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30 Cards in this Set

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Q: Surface circulation is primarily driven by?
A: Winds (Causes frictional drag between atmosphere & ocean, making water at surface layer move, making layer beneath it move & so on)
Q: Surface currents move in the same direction as the wind. T/F, why?
A: False. In N. Hemisphere, Ekman transport is deflected to the right of the prevailing wind direction. In S. Hemisphere, Ekman transport is deflected to the left of the prevailing wind direction.
Q: What is the Ekman transport?
A: Net transport of wind-driven ocean currents is at an angle (up to 90˚) to the prevailing wind.
Q: Deep ocean circulation is primarily driven by?
A: Buoyancy forces caused by gravity
Q: What are the large, dominant patterns of flow that do most of the work in surface circulation?
A: Subtropical gyres
Q: Which direction does the subtropical gyres flow in either hemispheres?
A: Clockwise in the Northern; Counterclockwise in the Southern
Q: What winds drive the subtropical gyres in low latitudes and in high latitudes?
A: Trade Winds in the low latitudes and the Westerlies at high latitudes
Q: Which part of a subtropical gyre flows water westward where water piles up against the continental margins?
A: The North & South Equatorial Currents
Q: At the Equator, is there a current that flows some water back eastward?
A: Yes. The Equatorial Counter Current though most of water is pushed to higher latitudes
Q: Which part of a subtropical gyre deflects water away from the Equator into higher latitudes?
A: The warm western boundary currents
Q: Which part of a subtropical gyre is formed and driven by the Westerlies?
A: The high-latitude portion that is formed when the western boundary currents are deflected by the Coriolis Effect and moves east
Q: Which part of a subtropical gyre flows cooler waters back towards the Equator?
A: The eastern boundary currents
Q: Why is subpolar surface circulation so different in the N. Hemisphere than in the S. Hemisphere?
A: In the southern hemisphere, there are no continents to block the southernmost Westerlies.
Explains the lack of an Arctic Circumpolar Current
Q: Do the subpolar gyres flow in the same direction as the subtropical gyres in their fellow hemisphere?
A: No, they flow in the opposite direction.
Q: What is the largest and strongest surface current in all of the oceans?
A: The Antarctic Circumpolar Current
H: It also influences circulation all the way to the ocean floor & is primary connection between the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian ocean basins.
Q: Deep waters are separated from the surface waters by the?
A: Pycnocline
H: Rapidly changing density “area"
Q: The pycnocline is the region where what happens exactly?
A: Large gradients in temperature and/or salinity create a layer in the ocean that separates less dense surface waters from denser deep water
H: Density is a function of what when in comes to seawater?
Q: The thermohaline is a process of deep-ocean circulation where what happens?
A: Differences in seawater density (caused again by temperature & salinity variations) cause dense water masses to sink under the force of gravity.
H: Gravity is involved with density
Q: In formation of Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW), the formation of what plays an important role and why?
A: Sea Ice; Sea Ice forms with only 30% of salt present in seawater. The remaining salt sinks to the depths of the very cold, very dense ocean water, further increasing the salinity and density of it & mixing with other water (primarily the NADW) to form the AABW.
Q: In what 2 directions does the AABW flow?
A: 1 - Eastward with the Antarctic Circumpolar Current
2 – Northward into portions of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Ocean basins.
H: Follows the ACC quite a bit…
Q: The AABW makes up what percentage of the world’s ocean?
A: 59%
Q: How is the North Atlantic Deep Water produced?
A: Low temperatures and high rates of evaporation of surface waters produce the cold saline water mass known as NADW
It's cold & high in salinity...
Q: In which direction does the NADW flow?
A: It sinks to the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean and flows south into the AABW.
Q: Which has more oxygen but less nutrients, the NADW or average deep water?
A: The NADW because it acts as the surface waters to lead to the production of deep waters. Thus, the deep water accumulates nutrients but gathers more carbon dioxide as more organisms gather & live there than in the NADW.
Q: Winds restore equilibrium in the world where heat imbalance from Sun’s inability to hit the atmosphere equally in surface area creates a temperature imbalance. T/F
A: True
Q: What are the names of each of the parts of the North Pacific subtropical gyre?
A: - N. Equatorial Current (Trade)
- N. Pacific Current (Westerlies)
- Kuroshio Current (WBC)
-California Current (EBC)
H: Trade Winds one, Westerlies one, Western Boundary Current, Eastern Boundary Current
Q: What are the names of each of the parts of the South Pacific subtropical gyre?
A: - S. Equatorial Current (Trade)
- West Wind Drift (Westerlies)
- East Australian Current (WBC)
- Humboldt Current (EBC)
H: Trade Winds one, Westerlies one, Western Boundary Current, Eastern Boundary Current
Q: What are the names of each of the parts of the North Atlantic subtropical gyre?
A: - N. Equatorial Current (Trade)
- N. Atlantic Current (Westerlies)
- Gulf Stream (WBC)
- Canary Current (EBC)
H: Trade Winds one, Westerlies one, Western Boundary Current, Eastern Boundary Current
Q: What are the names of each of the parts of the South Atlantic subtropical gyre?
A: - S. Equatorial Current (Trade)
- West Wind Drift (Westerlies)
- Brazil Current (WBC)
- Benguela Current (EBC)
H: Trade Winds one, Westerlies one, Western Boundary Current, Eastern Boundary Current
Q: What are the names of each of the parts of the South Indian subtropical gyre?
A: - S. Equatorial Current (Trade)
- West Wind Drift (Westerlies)
- Agulhas Current (WBC)
- West Austrailian Current (EBC)
H: Trade Winds one, Westerlies one, Western Boundary Current, Eastern Boundary Current