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107:. As the eastward flow of the Kuroshio, the flow of the NPC can lead to the transport of material from the western Pacific to the coast of North America. For example, some of the marine debris from the Japanese earthquake and tsunami of 2011 was transported by the NPC across the Pacific, leading to deposition of tsunami debris along the shores of Alaska, British Columbia, Washington and Oregon.
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As it flows from west to east, the latitudinal extent of the NPC increases so much that it spans some 20 degrees of latitude east of the dateline. This is associated with a decrease in the speed of current; eastward directed speeds at the surface are typically less than 0.05 m/s (5 cm/s) in
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Originating from the eastward directed flow occurring east of the island of Honshu, Japan, the North
Pacific Current extends over 40° of longitude. According to the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, the NPC may be considered to be a part or an extension of the Kuroshio current. The current covers a large
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the central
Pacific. As the NPC approaches the west coast of North America, it divides into two broad currents: the northward flowing Alaska Current and the southward flowing California Current. The splitting of flow is referred to as the
43:. The current forms the southern part of the North Pacific Subpolar Gyre and the northern part of the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. The North Pacific Current is formed by the collision of the
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receives the remaining 40%. These values may fluctuate, resulting in changes in the volume and the speed of the NPC water entering into the Alaska and
California Currents.
51:, which is a cold subarctic current that flows south and circulates counterclockwise along the western North Pacific Ocean. In the eastern North Pacific off southern
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along the NPC can range in the winter from 45 to 61 °F (7.2-16.1 °C) and in the summer months 64 °F-74 °F (17.8-23.3 °C).
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The Gulf of Alaska and the
California Current receive different volumes and flows of warm water from the North Pacific Current. The
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31:(sometimes referred to as the North Pacific Drift) is an ocean current that flows west-to-east between
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126:"What proportion of the north pacific current finds its way into the Gulf of Alaska?"
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area and brings warmer water from the subtropics to the sub-polar latitudes. Average
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164:"Seventy-foot dock from Japan washes up in Oregon - CBS News"
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receives about 60% of the flow of the NPC while the
47:, running northward off the coast of Japan, and the
55:, it splits into the southward flowing cold water
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192:Quick Bulletin of Ocean Conditions around Japan
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103:The NPC forms the northward portion of the
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16:Ocean current, Japan to British Columbia
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124:Freeland, Howard J. (2006-12-01).
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105:North Pacific Subtropical Gyre
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833:Currents of the Pacific Ocean
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59:and the northward flowing
23:The North Pacific Current.
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783:Thermohaline circulation
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282:Transpolar Drift Stream
74:sea surface temperature
802:Environment portal
756:Marine garbage patches
570:Indonesian Throughflow
474:Indonesian Throughflow
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631:Antarctic Circumpolar
67:Flows and temperature
29:North Pacific Current
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675:South Atlantic Gyre
670:North Atlantic Gyre
685:South Pacific Gyre
680:North Pacific Gyre
560:Equatorial Counter
464:Equatorial Counter
93:California Current
57:California Current
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813:Oceans portal
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665:Indian Ocean Gyre
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99:Gyre contribution
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610:South Equatorial
595:North Korea Cold
590:North Equatorial
504:South Equatorial
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423:South Equatorial
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398:North Brazil
348:East Iceland
260:Arctic Ocean
172:. Retrieved
170:. 2012-06-06
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84:of the NPC.
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694:Other gyres
658:Major gyres
368:Gulf Stream
82:bifurcation
535:California
489:Mozambique
484:Madagascar
174:2023-10-03
111:References
706:Ross Gyre
575:Kamchatka
408:Norwegian
383:Lomonosov
338:Caribbean
333:Cape Horn
277:Norwegian
150:0705-5900
827:Category
585:Mindanao
580:Kuroshio
565:Humboldt
545:Davidson
540:Cromwell
530:Aleutian
413:Portugal
378:Labrador
373:Irminger
353:Falkland
318:Benguela
303:Antilles
252:Currents
724:Related
605:Oyashio
479:Leeuwin
449:Agulhas
358:Florida
39:in the
525:Alaska
499:Somali
363:Guinea
328:Canary
323:Brazil
308:Azores
298:Angola
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650:Gyres
244:gyres
388:Loop
242:and
146:ISSN
35:and
27:The
138:doi
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128:.
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33:30
232:e
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
