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Cold, high saline water is very dense. When icebergs form, that means
fresh water is taken out of the system, concentrating the salt in the
water. This water is so dense it drops to the bottom and remains there
for tens of years, as it travels on the bottom. The diagram shows
"new" water starts in the North Atlantic and moves along the
bottom. The cold water warms up slowly and emerges in the Pacific Ocean
only to start circulating through different routes.
All these reasons cause the movement of the oceans to spin into
smaller eddies. Please keep in mind that although this motion looks
chaotic, it really is responding to natural forces, which we can
mathematically model.
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Santa Catalina Island, notice eddy formation
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