Beaufort Gyre in the Arctic Ocean; the majority of the Arctic's freshwater supply originates from Russian rivers as runoff. The clockwise circulation of the Beaufort Gyre is induced by the wind patterns associated with the permanent anticyclonic high pressure system over the western part of the Arctic. In a clockwise-rotating gyre in the Northern Hemisphere, the Coriolis force causes the ocean water to flow inward toward the gyre's center where it accumulates, effectively forming a dome of water. If the wind patterns shift into a cyclonic circulation due to the residence of a low pressure system (rising air induced by warmer ocean
Seven Seas Seven Seas The "Seven Seas" (as in the idiom "sail the Seven Seas") is an ancient phrase for all of the world's oceans. Since the 19th century, the term has been taken to include seven oceanic bodies of water: The World Ocean is also collectively known as just "the sea". The International Hydrographic Organization lists over 70 distinct bodies of water called seas. The term "Seven Seas" appears as early as 2300 BC in Hymn 8 of the Sumerian Enheduanna to the goddess Inanna. The Mesopotamians were the first in the history of astronomy to keep records of the observed