OK, let's see what Rautah's ocean currents have in store.

I prepared two maps. The first one shows just the continents and ocean currents. The second one is somewhat cluttered with a few big red "egg-like features" showing the areas I'm not sure about.

But first this: to avoid things to become too complicated, I placed the equatorial counter currents at 0°, the equatorial currents at 10° N/S, and the currents on their opposing sides (the ones that make the gyre circles complete) at 50° N/S. Rautah has the same rotation/spin as the Earth, with a comparable tilt and duration. I didn't take into account the coriolis effect (you'll see that some of the currents have long straight lines). Re-reading this makes me wonder if I didn't make it too uncomplicated...

Anyway, here are the maps (and the inevitable questions):

Click image for larger version.  Name: ocurrents.jpg  Views: 140  Size: 1.07 MB  ID: 64646 Click image for larger version.  Name: ocurrents2.jpg  Views: 136  Size: 1.31 MB  ID: 64647

  1. [See the red egg labeled A on the map] Is this current possible? It seems weird because it is going clockwise while all other gyres go anticlockwise. If it should go anticlockwise too the incoming and outgoing currents will cross, and that doesn't feel right either. Or perhaps it should not make a loop, but continue southward and squeeze itself through the strait connecting it with the ocean around the South Pole. I suspect this strait is between 100 and 150 km wide. Is that wide enough to let a major current through? Which brings me to another question: is the northern strait wide enough (it's about 1000 km wide) to let both the incoming and outgoing currents pass? If not, should there be a separate circular current in area A, disconnected from all other currents? Or maybe none at all? To be honest, I'm quite confused about that area.
  2. [See egg B] Is it possible for an equatorial counter current to pass through these straits and feed one of the southern gyres?
  3. [See eggs C1 to C6] As I don't have any continent at the poles, could the northern and southern gyres connect through currents flowing near the poles, as drawn?
  4. Any other issues that seem impossible?



Thanks for having a look!

Cheers - Akubra