Ocean flows at surface and 2000 meters below sea level

  • Released Monday, November 13th, 2017
  • Updated Friday, August 25th, 2023 at 12:08AM
  • ID: 4563

Visualization showing global ocean currents from Jan 01, 2010 to Dec 31, 2012 at sea level then at 2000 meters below sea level.

These visualizations show ocean current flows first at sea level then at 2000 meters below sea level. There are 2 versions of each visualization: one version is global; the second version is of the Northern Atlantic.

Notice some of the differences in speed and direction of the flows between sea level and 2000 meters below sea level. For example, the Gulf Stream off the coast of Eastern North America flows strongly towards the northeast, while at 2000 meters below sea level, the flow is weaker and in the opposite direction.

These animations were created in support of an educational series produced by WGBH.

Visualization showing ocean currents in Northern Atlantic from Jan 01, 2010 to Dec 31, 2012 at sea level then at 2000 meters below sea level.

Credits

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio

Datasets used in this visualization

ECCO2 (A.K.A. ECCO2 High Resolution Ocean and Sea Ice Model)
Model NASA/JPL 01/2010 - 12/2012
See more visualizations using this data set
GTOPO30 Topography and Bathymetry
Data Compilation USGS
See more visualizations using this data set

Note: While we identify the data sets used in these visualizations, we do not store any further details, nor the data sets themselves on our site.