North Atlantic Gyre

View of the currents surrounding the gyre.

The North Atlantic Gyre, located in the Atlantic Ocean, is one of the five major oceanic gyres. It is a circular system of ocean currents that stretches across the North Atlantic from near the equator almost to Iceland, and from the east coast of North America to the west coasts of Europe and Africa.

The currents that compose the North Atlantic Gyre include the Gulf Stream in the west, the North Atlantic Current in the north, the Canary Current in the east, and the Atlantic North Equatorial Current in the south. This gyre is particularly important for the central role it plays in the thermohaline circulation, bringing salty water west from the Mediterranean Sea and then north to form the North Atlantic Deep Water.

This gyre is similar to the North Pacific Gyre in the way it traps man-made marine debris in the North Atlantic Garbage Patch, similar to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in the North Pacific.

The North Atlantic Gyre forms the Sargasso Sea, noted for its still waters and dense seaweed accumulations.

See also

• Ocean current
• Oceanic gyre

External links

• Ocean currents