AEROGRAPHER'S MATE 3 & 2 



Atlantic Ocean flow into the Mediterranean Sea 

 in the upper layers of the current and the waters 

 of the sea flow into the ocean in the lower 

 layers. The outflowing waters of the Mediter- 

 ranean Sea have lower temperatures and greater 

 salinity than the inflowing waters of the North 

 Atlantic 



Labrador Sea 

 and Baffin Bay 



Waters from the North Atlantic Ocean enter 

 the Labrador Sea along the west coast of 

 Greenland as the WEST GREENLAND CURRENT, 

 Some of the West Greenland Current continues 

 through Davis Strait into Baffin Bay; the 

 remainder turns westward and joins the 

 LABRADOR CURRENT, which flows southward 

 along the east coast of Labrador. 



Some of the cold water from this current 

 turns eastward and flows along the northern 

 border of the North Atlantic Drift, and some 

 flows southward along the east coast of North 

 America, inshore of the Gulf Stream as far as 

 Cape Hatteras. 



Aleutian Current 



To the north of the North Pacific Current 

 is a current of waters flowing also toward the 

 east. This current is known as the Aleutian 

 Current. One branch of the Aleutian Current 

 flows north of the Aleutian Islands and continues 

 around the Bering Sea in a counterclockwise 

 circulation, and joins with water flowing south- 

 ward through the Bering Strait. This water then 

 flows southward to the northern islands of 

 Japan as the OYASHIO CURRENT. The oyashio 

 divides at 40°N lat; one branch becomes a part 

 of the Kuroshio, and the other branch moves 

 south along the coast. In the winter the Oyashio 

 carries cold waters as far south as Vietnam. 

 In the summer the cold water circulation is 

 kept to the area north of 40°N lat by the summer 

 monsoon circulation. 



The other branch of the Aleutian Current 

 flows south of the Aleutian Islands. On 

 approaching the coast of North America, one 

 portion turns to the north and flows into the 

 Gulf of Alaska; the other portion turns south 

 and flows along the coast as the CALIFORNIA 

 CURRENT. 



Caribbean Sea 

 and Gulf of Mexico 



The strong current that exists in the 

 Caribbean Sea is a continuation of the southern 

 branch of the North Equatorial Current of the 

 Atlantic Ocean. The waters flow westward through 

 the Caribbean Sea with two conspicuous eddies 

 accompanying the main current. One of the 

 eddies is in the bay between Nicaragua and 

 Colombia; the other is between Cuba and Jamaica. 

 The main current continues through the YUCATAN 

 CHANNEL between the Yucatan Peninsula of 

 Mexico and Cuba. Most of the waters of the 

 current bend sharply to the east and join the 

 Florida Current through the Florida Straits. 

 Some flows into the Gulf of Mexico, where most 

 of the circulation is in the form of pronounced 

 eddies, which are due to the contours of the 

 coast and the character of the gulf floor. 



OTHER NORTH PACIFIC CURRENTS 



To complete the picture of the oceanic 

 circulation in the North Pacific Ocean, several 

 other currents of adjacent seas must be 

 mentioned. 



California Current 



The portion of the Aleutian Current that 

 flows into the Gulf of Alaska is considered a 

 warm current, since it brings milder winter 

 temperatures to southern Alaska than would 

 normally be expected at that latitude. On the 

 other hand, the California Current in the spring 

 and summer definitely has a cooling effect on 

 the western coast of the United States. Due to 

 the north-northwest winds during those seasons 

 there is a great deal of upwelling of the sub- 

 surface cold waters. In the fall the upwelling 

 gives way and a countercurrent in the surface 

 waters known as the DAVIDSON CURRENT flows 

 northward along the coast to about 48°N lat. 



Where the upwelling is intense the spring 

 temperatures are lower than the winter tem- 

 peratures. However, in areas of only moderate 

 upwelling the winter temperatures are lower. 

 Associated with areas of much upwelling are 

 tongues of water of low temperature that extend 

 in a southerly direction away from the coast. 

 These tongues are separated by tongues of 

 water with a higher temperature that protrude 

 toward the coast. The tongues of water with 

 lower temperature flow toward the south; the 



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