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GCSE Geography · key term
A large-scale flow of seawater that transports water and heat.
Used by Edexcel
Specification 2.1 · Paper 1
Revise: Global Atmospheric CirculationTogether with ocean currents, it transfers heat from warmer tropical regions towards cooler higher latitudes. This reduces the temperature contrast between the equator and the poles, but does not remove it.
Paper 1
A large-scale flow of seawater that transports water and heat energy.
Distinguish wind-driven surface ocean currents from deep currents driven by differences in water density.
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Ocean currents transport heat by moving seawater. Warm currents carry water from lower latitudes towards higher latitudes, while cold currents carry cooler water towards lower latitudes. The North Atlantic Drift, for example, carries warm Atlantic water towards higher latitudes, helping to warm the climate of north-western Europe.