Lisa Geelhood points to an area of the Pacific Ocean that the students in Operation Deep Sea Dive learned about. Covering more than 70 percent of Earth s surface, always in motion and host to the world s largest creatures, oceans have fascinated people throughout human history. As mentioned, oceans are never still. Driven by forces such as wind, tides and gravity, currents keep the world s oceans in constant motion.
Currents move large amounts of water great distances.
These currents flow in large rotating loops called gyres. In the Northern Hemisphere, gyres spin in a clockwise direction, and in the Southern Hemisphere, gyres spin in a counterclockwise direction. This is because of Earth s spinning rotation and is called the Coriolos Effect . As wind passes over the water s surface, friction forces it to ripple. Waves are divided into several parts.