Baroclinic dynamics of grounded abyssal ocean currents

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One can categorize ocean currents into two broad groups. The first are the currents that are wind driven. These currents are most intense near the surface of the ocean. Their principal role is to transport warm equatorial waters toward the Polar Regions. The second class of currents are those that are driven by density contrasts with the surrounding waters. In this latter group are the deep, or abyssal, currents flowing along or near the bottom of the oceans along the continental boundaries. Their principal role is to transport cold, dense waters produced in the Polar Regions equatorward (and beyond). Taken together, the warm surface currents and the cold abyssal currents are the means by which the ocean convectively overturns, mixing incoming solar heating meridionally and vertically into the ocean interior.