gyre

views updated May 29 2018

gyre / jīr/ • v. [intr.] poetic/lit. whirl; gyrate: a swarm of ghosts gyred around him.• n. a spiral; a vortex. ∎ Geog. a circular pattern of currents in an ocean basin: the central North Pacific gyre.

gyre

views updated May 17 2018

gyre(ocean gyre) A circular or spiral motion of water, the term usually being applied to a semi-closed current system. A major gyre exists in each of the main ocean basins, centred at about 30° from the equator and displaced towards the western sides of the ocean (‘western intensification’). Gyres are generated mainly by surface winds and move clockwise in the northern hemisphere and anticlockwise in the southern hemisphere.

gyre

views updated May 08 2018

gyre (ocean gyre) Circular or spiral motion of water, the term usually being applied to a semiclosed current system. A major gyre exists in each of the main ocean basins, centred at about 30° from the equator and displaced towards the western sides of the ocean (‘western intensification’). Gyres are generated mainly by surface winds and move clockwise in the northern hemisphere and anticlockwise in the southern hemisphere.