1. Introduction

Have you ever wondered why water is repeated striking the shores in beaches and why you can’t find such big waves far away from the shores? Does it mean only the water near the shores is in motion? Then, what about the water far away from the shores?

Ocean water is always in motion. Both the surface water and the water in the deep ocean is in a move. Let’s have a look at the event mentioned below to understand the same.

In \(1992\), a cargo ship containing bath toys was caught in the storm and sunk in the ocean. It dumped 28,000 bath toy ducks into the oceans. But to the surprise, the rubber ducks were not together. They travelled all around the world. Using this, the oceanographers traced the movement of ocean water for a better understanding of ocean currents. Ocean currents are not the only way of water movement; to some extent, waves and tides also contribute to the movement of water.

 

The ocean water moves both in horizontal and vertical directions. A number of factors are responsible for the movement of water. Some of the important factors are temperature, salinity, density, rotation of the earth, external forces (gravity) of the sun, moon and the winds. The topography of the ocean and the shorelines modify the speed and direction of this motion.

In this chapter, let's have a detailed study of these movements and the factors affecting those motions.