Deep ocean currents are driven by density and temperature gradients. Thermohaline circulation is also known as the ocean's conveyor belt (which refers to deep ocean density driven ocean basin currents). These currents, called submarine rivers, flow under the surface of the ocean and are hidden from immediate detection.
The light-colored material is in areas of the Moon called the highlands, which represent the earliest crust on the Moon. Impact cratering shattered this crust and often deformed it, pushing some of it into mountain-high impact crater rims or ejecting it across the surface of the Moon.
The moon is generally called a Harvest Moon when it appears that way (i.e. large and red) in autumn, amongst a few other names. There are other names that are associated with specific timeframes as well. The colour is due to atmospheric scattering (Also known as Rayleigh scattering):