Ocean gyre formation is the process by which persistent wind belts drag the ocean surface into motion while the Coriolis effect deflects that motion sideways, the two together spinning up a large system of rotating currents that circles an entire ocean basin, clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere. Five major subtropical gyres dominate the world ocean, and because converging currents at a gyre centre concentrate floating debris, each has become associated with a garbage patch, the North Pacific Gyre own accumulation zone being the best known.
Facts
Process Type TimescaleSustained year-round, with a parcel of water taking several years to complete one full circuit of a major gyre. 1 Sources
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