The reason is that darknessâor, to put it the other way, the absence of lightâstimulates the production of a hormone, melatonin, from its immediate precursor, the neurotransmitter serotonin. Like serotonin, melatonin plays important roles in our physical and mental well-being.
The five major ocean gyres. A gyre in oceanography is any large system of circulating ocean currents, particularly those involved with large wind movements. Gyres are caused by the Coriolis effect; planetary vorticity along with horizontal and vertical friction, determine the circulation patterns from the wind curl (torque).
This is accomplished via a decrease in planetary vorticity (since relative vorticity variations are not significant in large ocean circulations), a phenomenon attainable through an equator-wardly directed, interior flow that characterizes the subtropical gyre.