The illustration below shows the Gulf Stream carrying warm water up the east coast of America on its way to Western Europe. These warm equatorial surface currents are responsible for the moderate winter climates of certain countries such as France and Spain. Which of the following is most responsible for this occurrence?


The sun heats earth’s oceans causing convection currents to travel from the equator to the poles.
Differences in the ocean’s salinity cause deep water convection currents.
Convection within earth’s mantle caused by a hot iron core.
Global wind patterns that determine the direction of surface curren