Gyre (disambiguation)

Last updated

An ocean gyre is any large system of rotating ocean currents in oceanography.

Contents

Gyre or gire may also refer to:

Natural and scientific phenomena

Other uses

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atlantic Ocean</span> Ocean between Africa, Europe, and the Americas

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about 85,133,000 km2 (32,870,000 sq mi). It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for separating the New World of the Americas from the Old World of Afro-Eurasia.

Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Subtropical cyclone</span> Cyclonic storm with tropical and extratropical characteristics

A subtropical cyclone is a weather system that has some characteristics of both tropical and extratropical cyclones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ocean gyre</span> Any large system of circulating ocean surface currents

In oceanography, a gyre is any large system of ocean surface currents moving in a circular fashion driven by wind movements. Gyres are caused by the Coriolis effect; planetary vorticity, horizontal friction and vertical friction determine the circulatory patterns from the wind stress curl (torque).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westerlies</span> Prevailing winds from the west

The westerlies, anti-trades, or prevailing westerlies, are prevailing winds from the west toward the east in the middle latitudes between 30 and 60 degrees latitude. They originate from the high-pressure areas in the horse latitudes and trend towards the poles and steer extratropical cyclones in this general manner. Tropical cyclones which cross the subtropical ridge axis into the westerlies recurve due to the increased westerly flow. The winds are predominantly from the southwest in the Northern Hemisphere and from the northwest in the Southern Hemisphere.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Atlantic Gyre</span> Major circular system of ocean currents

The North Atlantic Gyre of the Atlantic Ocean is one of five great oceanic gyres. It is a circular ocean current, with offshoot eddies and sub-gyres, across the North Atlantic from the Intertropical Convergence Zone to the part south of Iceland, and from the east coasts of North America to the west coasts of Europe and Africa.

Canary originally referred to the Spanish island of Gran Canaria in the North Atlantic Ocean and the surrounding Canary Islands. It may also refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Pacific Gyre</span> Major circulating system of ocean currents

The North Pacific Gyre (NPG) or North Pacific Subtropical Gyre (NPSG), located in the northern Pacific Ocean, is one of the five major oceanic gyres. This gyre covers most of the northern Pacific Ocean. It is the largest ecosystem on Earth, located between the equator and 50° N latitude, and comprising 20 million square kilometers. The gyre has a clockwise circular pattern and is formed by four prevailing ocean currents: the North Pacific Current to the north, the California Current to the east, the North Equatorial Current to the south, and the Kuroshio Current to the west. It is the site of an unusually intense collection of human-created marine debris, known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

Antarctic gyre may refer to any of the three ocean currents and gyres within the Southern Ocean:

The Madagascar current is an oceanic current in the west Indian Ocean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Pacific garbage patch</span> Gyre of debris in the North Pacific

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a garbage patch, a gyre of marine debris particles, in the central North Pacific Ocean. It is located roughly from 135°W to 155°W and 35°N to 42°N. The collection of plastic and floating trash originates from the Pacific Rim, including countries in Asia, North America, and South America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tropical cyclone</span> Type of rapidly rotating storm system

A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system with a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depending on its location and strength, a tropical cyclone is called a hurricane, typhoon, tropical storm, cyclonic storm, tropical depression, or simply cyclone. A hurricane is a strong tropical cyclone that occurs in the Atlantic Ocean or northeastern Pacific Ocean. A typhoon occurs in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. In the Indian Ocean and South Pacific, comparable storms are referred to as "tropical cyclones". In modern times, on average around 80 to 90 named tropical cyclones form each year around the world, over half of which develop hurricane-force winds of 65 kn or more.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Weddell Gyre</span> One of two gyres within the Southern Ocean

The Weddell Gyre is one of the two gyres that exist within the Southern Ocean. The gyre is formed by interactions between the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) and the Antarctic Continental Shelf. The gyre is located in the Weddell Sea, and rotates clockwise. South of the ACC and spreading northeast from the Antarctic Peninsula, the gyre is an extended large cyclone. Where the northeastern end ends at 30°E, which is marked by the southward turn of the ACC, the northern part of the gyre spreads over the Southern Scotia Sea and goes northward to the South Sandwich Arc. Axis of the gyre is over the southern flanks of the South Scotia, America-Antarctic, and Southwest Indian Ridges. In the southern part of the gyre, the westward return flow is about 66 sverdrup (Sv), while in the northern rim current, there is an eastward flow of 61 Sv.

Abele may refer to:

Weddell may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ecosystem of the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre</span> Major circulating ecosystem of ocean currents

The North Pacific Subtropical Gyre (NPSG) is the largest contiguous ecosystem on earth. In oceanography, a subtropical gyre is a ring-like system of ocean currents rotating clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere caused by the Coriolis Effect. They generally form in large open ocean areas that lie between land masses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beaufort Gyre</span> Wind-driven ocean current in the Arctic Ocean polar region

The Beaufort Gyre is one of the two major ocean currents in the Arctic Ocean. It is roughly located north of the Alaskan and Canadian coast. In the past, Arctic sea-ice would circulate in the Beaufort gyre up to several years, leading to the formation of very thick multi-year sea-ice. Due to warming temperatures in the Arctic, the gyre has lost an extensive amount of ice, practically turning what used to be a nursery for sea-ice to mature and grow into the thickest and oldest ice of the Arctic Ocean into a "graveyard" for older ice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Somali Current</span> Ocean boundary current that flows along the coast of Somalia and Oman in the Western Indian Ocean

The Somali Current is a cold ocean boundary current that runs along the coast of Somalia and Oman in the Western Indian Ocean and is analogous to the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic Ocean. This current is heavily influenced by the monsoons and is the only major upwelling system that occurs on a western boundary of an ocean. The water that is upwelled by the current merges with another upwelling system, creating one of the most productive ecosystems in the ocean.

A Wind generated current is a flow in a body of water that is generated by wind friction on its surface. Wind can generate surface currents on water bodies of any size. The depth and strength of the current depend on the wind strength and duration, and on friction and viscosity losses, but are limited to about 400 m depth by the mechanism, and to lesser depths where the water is shallower. The direction of flow is influenced by the Coriolis effect, and is offset to the right of the wind direction in the Northern Hemisphere, and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere. A wind current can induce secondary water flow in the form of upwelling and downwelling, geostrophic flow, and western boundary currents.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central American gyre</span> Broad rainy season low-pressure system

The Central American gyre (CAG) is a broad and seasonal area of low pressure that occurs over the eastern Pacific Ocean and western Caribbean Sea. It primarily develops annually during the region's rainy season between May and November, and most commonly occurs during late spring (May–June) and early fall (October–November). CAGs are a type of monsoonal low and share similarities with monsoonal lows in other oceanic basins. The broad counterclockwise circulation of winds associated with CAGs is weak. CAGs may span across hundreds of miles, potentially covering parts of the eastern Pacific Ocean, southern Gulf of Mexico, and western Caribbean Sea.