When we’re talking about the global ocean circulation, we mean the large amounts of water moving constantly in the oceanic area. The surface circulation is created by the winds. The basic circulation process that takes its place on the ocean surface carries the mass of water to the cooler areas from the hot tropics. While moving to the cooler areas the water looses the heat by giving it off to the water and air. The water that is located on the earth poles is ever cooler at the winter time, so it gets to the deeper water levels. This process we can observe in the Antarctica region and the North Atlantic area.
After some time the water from the depth returns to the surface, this can actually happen in any part of the ocean, and then the cycle goes all over again. The more times the cycle passes, the more heat goes to the atmosphere and the warmer the local climate is.
The earth rotation also plays the significant role in the global ocean circulation. The currents seem to be deflected to the right side in the area of northern hemisphere and to the left side in the other one. The effect is well known by the name of “Coriolis force”. This is what results the highs and lows in the seas all over the world. You can even observe the changes of the sea depths on the interactive map provided by TOPEX/Poseidon.
With the modern knowledge about the Coriolis force the scientists are now able to map all the currents of the ocean. For this they also tend to use the information coming from the satellites in a stream mode. The currents are mapped every ten days on regular basis.
The possible variations in the water circulation can result the changes in climate due to the heat transportation. Some currents are irregular and tent to change every 2-5 years.
