Geography & History Notes | KCSE, NECTA, ZIMSEC & GCSE

  An ocean current is a continuous, directed movement of the seawater generated by a number of forces acting upon the water, including wind , the Coriolis effect, breaking waves, cabbeling and temperature and salinity differences. depth contours, shoreline configuration, and interaction with other currents influence a current's direction and strength. ocean currents are primarily horizontal water movements. Warm ocean currents are ocean currents that move warm water from the equator. Warm current has warm water therefore they are less dense than cold water. Warm ocean currents have influenced the climate or environmental conditions of the areas adjacent to them in the following ways; They lead to warm conditions, i.e. they tend to warm or raise the temperature of the adjacent area, this is because the winds which blow over them are warmed up and as they blow onshore they bring in warm conditions e.g. the North Atlantic drift raises the temperatures of the coasts of Portugal, Franc...

  Warm ocean currents are ocean currents with warm waters and may include the warm Mozambique current or the warm Agulhas current or South equatorial current in Africa. Other warm currents include; the warm gulf stream, the North Atlantic drift, the North Pacific current, the Kuro siwo current, the East Australia Current, the Brazilian current, and the Northeast monsoon drift.  Characteristics of warm ocean current: They have higher temperatures i.e. tend to be warm. They generally tend to flow on the eastern side of the continental landmasses in the low latitudes (except for Guinea current). They generally tend to flow on the western side of the continental landmasses in the mid and high latitudes e.g. the Pacific current and the North Atlantic drift. They tend to flow from the lower latitudes to the higher latitudes i.e. flow pole ward away from the equator. In the northern hemisphere, their circulation tends to be clockwise while in the southern, their circulation tends...