Evidence of mechanical weathering preserved in the rock record helps to reconstruct paleotemperature. I.e., did temperature drop below freezing at a given location during a particular period in the geologic past. This divides the circulation patterns into northern and southern hemispheric mirror images. The rotation is fastest at the equator and slower toward the poles. Currents beneath the ocean's surface are often driven by spatial differences in the density of water.
Density is affected by temperature and salinity.
As in the case of eolian deposits, the strength and direction of ocean currents can be interpreted from structures found in marine deposits and from the grain size distribution of the sediments. In addition the mineral composition of the sediments is affected by the chemistry of the currents. E.g., deep-sea water that is undersaturated with respect to carbonate will dissolve that mineral and it will not preserved to the rock record. The movements of the air and oceans, the topography of the continents, and to some extent the vegetation of the planet's surface all govern the distribution of precipitation. On the grand scale precipitation patterns are arranged in latitudinal bands that reflect atmospheric movement.