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111 Cards in this Set

  • Front
  • Back
greenhouse gases
CO2 - carbon dioxide

CH4 - methane

CFC - chlorofluorocarbons

N2O - nitrous oxide
volume of gases, water vapor, and airborne particles enveloping earth.
atmosphere
state of the atmosphere at a specific time and place
weather
long-term average of weather in an area
climate
air becomes cooler when it
expands
air becomes warmers when it
is compressed
air descending from high altitude warms as it is compressed by the
higher atmosphere pressure near earth's surface
tilt of earth
23.5 degrees
how much light penetrates the ocean depends on several factors
angle at which it approaches

the sea state (turbulence)

presence of ice
near the poles, light filters through more atmosphere, and approaches at a low angle, so a lot of light is
reflected
water temperatures are regulated largely by
air circulation
as water evaporates and condenses to form rain, it moves between the pole and the tropics to
regulate temperature
caused by difference in air density resulting from the temp difference between different areas.
convection currents
air circulation on earth is governed by
uneven solar heating and earth's rotation
earth's eastward rotation deflects air and water or any moving body. this deflection is the
coriolis effect
as you go further north, the coriolis effect gets
stronger
large circuits of moving air. there are six.
atmospheric circulation cells

polar
ferrel
hadley
doldrums (itcz)
hadley
ferrel
polar
an air current that creates the world's strongest oceanic current. ocean current continually flows eastward around the south pole
west wind belt
air at the boundaries between circulation cells (30 and equator) moves __, but within, a cell air move ___
vertically; horizontally
the calm air at the boundaries are called ___ or itcz ____

area known as the meteorological equator as opposed to the geographical equator because it typically varies about 5 degrees to the north. this is because there is proportionally more land in the northern hem.
doldrums

intertropical convergence zone
move within hadley cells
trade winds
move within ferrel cells
westerlies
patterns of wind circulation that change with the seasons. the seasonal changes of the itcz affect weather greatly in areas like india and bangladesh
monsoons
large tropical cyclones. great masses of warm, humid, rotating air.

cannot sustain itself below 26 degrees C.

typically start at itcz

origin not well understood, but begin to form in areas of low pressure over a large, warm landmass

air is heated as it travels over warm waters like the gulf, as circular winds begin to blow, air is forced upward where condensation begins

get energy from water's high latent heat of vaporization as water vapor recondenses into a liquid where energy is released
hurricanes
mass of flow of water
currents
named for the land they border
currents
wind-driven and make up about 10% of the world's water
surface currents
slow and deep currents that affect the vast bulk of seawater beneath the thermocline
thermohaline currents
___ causes currents in the northern hemisphere to flow to the right and those of the southerm to flow to the left, creating ___
coriolis effect

gyres
continents block continuous water flow and aid the coriolis so that water moves
around an ocean basin
the arrangement of water movement throughout the deepening layers of the ocean.
eckman spiral
___ moves as 45 degrees to wind, but each deeper layer moves to the right of the layer above it
surface water
creates a spiral until eventually water actually flows in the
opposite direction of surface water
net motion of water down to about 100 meters is known as
eckman transport
eckman transport explains why water in a ___ stays in a circular pattern and does not move east or west into the center.
gyre
because it would have to go against
pressure gradient

defy gravity
those in balance with the coriolis efect and the pressure gradient. six of these currents, two in the northern hemisphere and four in the southern
geostrophic gyres/currents
____ or ______ flows around the south pole and is the world's strongest currents
west wind belt

antarctic circumpolar current
fast, deep, warm. found off the east coast of continents and are narrow and move warm water to the pole. nutrients depleted in these currents.
western boundary currents
largest western boundary current
gulf stream
form when the current moves closer to the poles and water begins to loop and meander to form turbulent rinsg
eddies
they can be either ____ eddies which form within the gulf stream
cold core
or ___ eddies which form when warm water loops into cold polar waters
warm core
eastern boundary are opposite of those west. they are __ and ___
broad and shallow
explains why western boundary currents are so much stronger than their eastern counterparts, making gyres non-symmetrical. as you remember, the coriolis effect grows strongers as it moves away from th equators, so it quickly pushes water flowing eastward (western boundary currents) and it does nto push the waters flowing westward, near the equator (eastern) at all, allowing them to be wider
westward intensification

PG 243!!
created by wind-driven horizontal movement of water
vertical circulation

(upwelling/downwelling)
unexplained switch of high and low pressure areas in the pacific. this typically occurs in 3-8 years, pressure change also changes the direction of the winds that flow in these areas, such as _____.
el nino

trade winds
this change in wind and pressure is also known as
southern oscillation
affects the environment becuase tade winds begin to move warmer waters over the areas of
upwelling (cold, deep, nutrient-rich)
fish and seabirds abandon this new nutrient depleted area. sea levels also rise and water gets warmer. this combination causes an increase in rainfall in some areas (___)
monsoons
and extreme drought in others as water evaporates and
condenses
movement of deeper waters due to density differences.
thermohaline currents
the whole ocean is involved in a slow thermohalin currents that takes about ___ years to complete
1000
as water loses heat to the atmosphere, it sinks to become cold water
downwelling
examples of thermohaline currents
antarctic bottom water AABW

north atlantic deep water NADW
vertical distance between the wave length and adjacent trough
wave height
horizontal distance between two successive crests
wave length
time it takes for a wave to move a distance of one wavelength
wave period
particles of a sea wave move in circular motions called
orbits
these orbits move particles _ and _ then down and back.
up and forward

for waves in water, the actual water is not moving, but energy is being passed through it to create a wave
generally found on western boundaries. created when win waves of various wavelengths and heights collide. crests of these wind waves comes form different directions and combine to form on huge super wave

wave height is 1/7 of wavelength
rogue waves
shallow waves

depth of the ocean <
1/2 wavelength
deep waves

depth of ocean >
1/2 wavelength
shallow waves equation
C= sqrt (GD)

C=3.31 sqrt (D)
deep waves equation
C= L/T

C=1.25 sqrt (L)
deep water waves change to ____ as they approach shore
shallow
also, wave bending occurs as waves approach shore and become shallower because the waves are breaking at different depths. called
wave refraction
eventually, a __________ will occur as water moves back out to sea and form a rip current
long shore drift
gravity waves formed by the transfer of wind energy to water.
wind waves
they grow from small __ __ which are always present in the ocean
capillary waves (wind waves)
three factors determine how energy is imparted to the sea for wind waves
wave speed

duration

fetch (expanse of water)
waves are weaked by a restoring force like
gravity
a restoring force returns a wave to ___ after a wave
flatness
for very small waves, ___ is the restoring force.
cohesion
the __ of the crest pulling downward creates a trough instead of a flat area
inertia
materual waves from a storm sort themselves into groups with similar wavelengths and speeds is known as
____ and produces the familiar undulation of the ocean surface called a ____
wave dispersion

swell
these swells often announce
a storm's arrival
waves travel in groups called ______ and as the leading wave moves forward, it transfer half of its energy to the wave behind. this moves at half the speed of the lead wave; therefore, the leading wave disappears as new waves form behind, creating ___ ___
wave trains

wave groups
when waves of different sizes meet in the ocean
interference
cancellation effect of subtraction on waves
destructive interference
additive formation of large crests and deep troughs
constructive interference
breaking waves
plunging
spilling
surging
collapsing
upper section topples forward and away from the bottom, forming an air-filled tube
plunging
crest slides down the face of the wave
spilling
moves ashore without breaking
surging
shallow water wave with a long wavelength. caused by seismic activity
tsunami
form beneath the ocean's surface and they move slower than regular waves. occur at the base of the topmost layer of the ocean
internal waves
relatively harmless waves associated with tides
tidal waves
rogue generated by
wind
wind waves generated by
wind
tsunami waves generated by
tectonics
tidal waves generated by
forced waves (created by a force)
seiche waves generated by
wind
periodic, short-term changes in the height of the ocean surface at a particular place caused by a combination of the gravitational force of the moon and sun and the motion of the earth (its tilt and elliptical orbit)
tides
longest of all waves and considered shallow
tides
the moon has more affect on the sun because it is
closer
it takes the moon ____ to orbit around earth
24 hours and 50 minutes
three main determining factors in tidal shape
land

water depth

shape of the coast
1 high and 1 low tide per day
diurnal tides
2 high and 2 low tides per day
semi-diurnal tides
when the sun and moon overlap one another, either at a full moon or when there is no moon in the sky, it is called

occurs at ____ week intervals
spring tide

2
when the sun and moon are in opposition, at the half moon, it is called

created right angle between earth, sun, and moon - occurs at __ week intervals
neap tide

2
the speed of tidal wave is based on
ocean depth
tidal waves act as
shallow water waves
high, often breaking wave generated by a tide crest that advances rapidly up an estuary river. bay of fundy. where the tide rushes in.
tidal bore

true tidal wave
high water to low water difference is known a
tidal range

about 1.5 feet in gulf
fixed point in the ocean around which a tide rotates. there is no tide in this area, and tide is highest near the shoreline
amphidromic point
place where fresh and salt water mix. dominated by river flow, the tide, and wind movement
estuary
four types of estuaries
1. Coastal Plain Estuaries are formed by the sea level rising and filling an existing river valley.

2. Tectonic Estuaries are caused by the folding or faulting of land surfaces. These estuaries are found along major fault lines

3. Bar-built Estuaries form when a shallow lagoon or bay is protected from the ocean by a sand bar or barrier island.

4. Fjords are U-shaped valleys formed by glacial action.
animal that live in estuaries much be ___ meaning they thrive in brackish waters
stenohaline
are created when fresh water from a river combines with saltier sea water
salt wedges