Types of Ocean Currents

 Warm Ocean Currents:

# Those currents which flow from equatorial regions towards poles which have a higher surface temperature and are called warm current.
# They bring warm waters to the cold regions.
# They are usually observed on the east coast of the continents in the lower and middle latitudes of both hemispheres.
# In the northern hemisphere, they are also found on the west coast of the continents in the higher latitudes (E.g. Alaska and Norwegian Currents).

Cold Ocean Currents:

# Those currents which flow from polar regions towards equator have a lower surface temperature and are called cold currents.
# They bring cold waters into warm areas.
# These currents are usually found on the west coast of the continents in low and middle latitudes of both hemispheres.
# In the northern hemisphere, they are also found on the east coast in the higher latitudes (E.g. Labrador, East Greenland and Oyashio currents).

The ocean currents can be also classified as:

# Surface Currents: They constitute about 10% of all the waters in an ocean. These waters are occupied at the upper 400m of an ocean or the Ekman Layer. It is the layer of the ocean water which moves due to the stress of blowing the wind and this motion is thus called as Ekman Transport.

# Deep Water Currents: They constitute about 90% of the ocean water. They move around the ocean basin due to variations in the density and gravity.