Current (hydrology)

In hydrology, a current in a water body is the flow of water in any one particular direction. The current varies spatially as well as temporally, dependent upon the flow volume of water, stream gradient, and channel geometry. In tidal zones, the current and streams may reverse on the flood tide before resuming on the ebb tide. On a global scale, wind and the rotation of the earth greatly influence the flow of ocean currents.^[1]

In a stream or river there the current is influenced by gravity, the term upstream (or upriver) refers to the direction towards the source of the stream (or river), i.e. against the direction of flow. Likewise, the term downstream or downriver describes the direction towards the mouth of the stream or river, in which the current flows. The term "left bank" and "right bank" refers to banks as seen from the direction of flow, towards the downstream direction.^[2]

References

^ "Currents, Waves, and Tides". Smithsonian Ocean. 2020-08-12. Retrieved 2024-11-12.
^ Kauffman, Robert B.; et al. (American Canoe Association) (March 2008). "Building Your Canoe Basics". Outdoor Adventures: Canoeing (PDF). Human Kinetics.

Discharge (hydrology) – Flow rate of water that is transported through a given cross-sectional area
Ocean current – Directional mass flow of oceanic water
Rheoscope – Instrument for measuring fluid viscosity
Rheotaxis
Rip current – Water current moving away from shore
Volumetric flow rate – Volume of fluid which passes per unit time

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[1] "Currents, Waves, and Tides". Smithsonian Ocean. 2020-08-12. Retrieved 2024-11-12.

[2] Kauffman, Robert B.; et al. (American Canoe Association) (March 2008). "Building Your Canoe Basics". Outdoor Adventures: Canoeing (PDF). Human Kinetics.

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v t e Coastal geography
Landforms	Anchialine pool Archipelago Atoll Avulsion Ayre Barrier island Bay Bight Bodden Brackish marsh Cape Channel Cliff Coast Coastal plain Coastal waterfall Continental margin Continental shelf Coral reef Cove Dune cliff-top Estuary Firth Fjard Fjord Freshwater marsh Fundus Gat Geo Gulf Gut Hapua Headland Inlet Intertidal wetland Island Islet Isthmus Lagoon Machair Mudflat Natural arch Peninsula Reef Ria Salt marsh Shoal Skerry Sound Spit Stack Strait Strand plain Submarine canyon Tidal island Tidal marsh Tide pool Tied island Tombolo Waituna Windwatt
Beaches	Beach cusps Beach evolution Beach ridge Beach wrack Beaches in estuaries and bays Beachrock Coastal morphodynamics Pocket beach Raised beach Recession Shell beach Shingle beach Storm beach Wash margin
River mouths	Debouch Mouth bar River delta mega regressive
Processes	Blowhole Cliffed coast Coastal biogeomorphology Coastal erosion Concordant coastline Current Cuspate foreland Discordant coastline Emergent coastline Feeder bluff Flat coast Graded shoreline Ingression coast Large-scale coastal behaviour Longshore drift Marine regression Marine transgression Raised shoreline Rip current Rocky shore Sea cave Sea foam Shoal peresyp Steep coast Submergent coastline Surf break Surf zone Surge channel Swash Undertow Volcanic arc Wave-cut platform Wave shoaling Wind fetch Wind wave
Management	Accretion Coastal management Integrated coastal zone management Submersion
Related	Bulkhead line Coastal engineering Grain size boulder clay cobble granule gravel pebble sand shingle silt Intertidal zone Littoral zone Physical oceanography Region of freshwater influence River plume
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References

See also