Consider the following factors: 1. Rotation of the Earth 2. Air pressure and wind 3. Density of ocean water 4. Revolution of the Earth Which of the above factors influence the ocean currents?

Ocean currents are influenced by several primary factors. The rotation of the Earth generates the Coriolis force, which deflects the direction of currents to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and the left in the Southern Hemisphere [3]. Air pressure and wind systems are the dominant drivers of surface currents; winds drag the surface water, and oceanic circulation patterns often correspond to atmospheric high and low-pressure belts [5]. Density of ocean water is the critical driver for deep-ocean currents, also known as thermohaline circulation [6]. Differences in density are caused by variations in temperature and salinity, where colder, saltier water sinks and moves through the deep ocean [7]. While the Earth's revolution affects seasonal cycles and solar energy distribution, it is not a direct physical force driving the movement of ocean currents like rotation, wind, and density are.

Sources

1. [1] Physical Geography by PMF IAS, Manjunath Thamminidi, PMF IAS (1st ed.) > Chapter 32: Ocean Movements Ocean Currents And Tides > Influence Of Wind (Atmospheric Circulation) > p. 487
2. [3] FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, Geography Class XI (NCERT 2025 ed.) > Chapter 13: Movements of Ocean Water > Major Ocean Currents > p. 111
3. [4] Certificate Physical and Human Geography , GC Leong (Oxford University press 3rd ed.) > Chapter 12: The Oceans > The Movements of Ocean Currents > p. 110
4. [5] https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/ocean-fact/currents/
5. [2] Physical Geography by PMF IAS, Manjunath Thamminidi, PMF IAS (1st ed.) > Chapter 33: Ocean temperature and salinity > Thermohaline Circulation > p. 514
6. [6] https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/tutorial_currents/05conveyor1.html
7. [7] https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/tutorial_currents/04currents1.html