10. Hydrosphere: Circulation of the World Ocean

The ocean water in Malaysia is much warmer than the one by the west coast of North America. Sabah, Malaysia. June 2013.

Ocean Currents

One of the main ways to distribute the imbalance heat of the Earth surface, ocean currents creates a large-scale water movement to transport the warmer water from Equatorial Regions to the csold waters in the Polar Regions. Interestingly enough, there is more currents involving with heat movement than heat transfer within the Equatorial Region. Moreover, the heat is transported in the first 100 meters of the ocean water with a speed of eight kilometers per hour. In general, ocean currents are set up by the frictional force of surface wind upon the water surface, driven by Coriolis forces, structure of landmasses, and water density or salinity.