OCE ch 7 Questions with Correct Answers (Grade A+)
Question 1: Which ocean current is the strongest and fastest ocean current in the world?
Answer: Gulf Stream
Question 2: Which current that flows along the equator is driven by a difference in sea level caused by
ocean circulation patterns?
Answer: Equatorial Countercurrent in the Pacific Ocean
Question 3: What factor(s) drive(s) Ekman transport?
Answer: -wind -Coriolis effect
Question 4: Of the following locations, where would upwelling be expected to occur? Choose all that
apply.
Answer: -Where seamounts or tablemounts are present -In areas of diverging surface currents -Where there
is a sharp bend in a coastline
Question 5: Downwelling can result from __________.
Answer: converging surface currents
Question 6: The Gulf Stream transports warm water into the __________.
Answer: north atalantic
Question 7: Fluctuations in the flow of the Gulf Stream current result in curving loops of water known
as __________.
Answer: meanders
Question 8: Ocean frontal systems that spin off from currents such as the Gulf Stream, akin to
atmospheric storms, are known as __________.
Answer: eddies
Question 9: When a meander from the Gulf Stream pinches off into the warm water south of the
current, the eddy is called a __________.
Answer: cold core Eddie or ring
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, Question 10: The thermocline is _________________.
Answer: a steep temperature gradient in the ocean that separates deeper cold water from warmer upper
water
Question 11: What is the Walker Circulation Cell?
Answer: It is the path that air takes as it moves from high to low pressure, and back to high pressure, in the
South Pacific under normal conditions.
Question 12: Why does upwelling occur along the west coast of South America under normal
conditions?
Answer: Winds moving westward in the South Pacific drive ocean currents toward the west; deep water
rises to replace water driven westward.
Question 13: What would you expect weather to be like on the eastern coast of Australia if the western
coast of South America were experiencing unusually warm, wet weather?
Answer: The eastern coast of Australia would be experiencing unusually dry weather.
Question 14: Which direction do ocean currents in the South Pacific move under El Niño conditions?
Answer: eastward
Question 15: What is the Southern Oscillation?
Answer: the swapping of high and low pressure zones in the South Pacific under El Niño conditions
Question 16: Under which conditions are droughts and wildfires common in Australia?
Answer: under el niño conditions
Question 17: What is the overall effect of the stronger than normal trade winds typical of La Niña
conditions?
Answer: lowering of the South Pacific ocean temperature from normal conditions
Question 18: Recall that global winds impact the direction of surface ocean currents. Examine the
following map showing the Atlantic Ocean off the west coast of Africa. The direction of the surface
current and the prevailing wind do not coincide. What can explain this discrepancy?
Answer: -The Coriolis effect deflects ocean currents in the Southern Hemisphere to the left due to Earth's
rotation. -Because the current is located in the Southern Hemisphere, the subtropical gyre pulls the current
in a counterclockwise direction.
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Question 1: Which ocean current is the strongest and fastest ocean current in the world?
Answer: Gulf Stream
Question 2: Which current that flows along the equator is driven by a difference in sea level caused by
ocean circulation patterns?
Answer: Equatorial Countercurrent in the Pacific Ocean
Question 3: What factor(s) drive(s) Ekman transport?
Answer: -wind -Coriolis effect
Question 4: Of the following locations, where would upwelling be expected to occur? Choose all that
apply.
Answer: -Where seamounts or tablemounts are present -In areas of diverging surface currents -Where there
is a sharp bend in a coastline
Question 5: Downwelling can result from __________.
Answer: converging surface currents
Question 6: The Gulf Stream transports warm water into the __________.
Answer: north atalantic
Question 7: Fluctuations in the flow of the Gulf Stream current result in curving loops of water known
as __________.
Answer: meanders
Question 8: Ocean frontal systems that spin off from currents such as the Gulf Stream, akin to
atmospheric storms, are known as __________.
Answer: eddies
Question 9: When a meander from the Gulf Stream pinches off into the warm water south of the
current, the eddy is called a __________.
Answer: cold core Eddie or ring
Page 1
, Question 10: The thermocline is _________________.
Answer: a steep temperature gradient in the ocean that separates deeper cold water from warmer upper
water
Question 11: What is the Walker Circulation Cell?
Answer: It is the path that air takes as it moves from high to low pressure, and back to high pressure, in the
South Pacific under normal conditions.
Question 12: Why does upwelling occur along the west coast of South America under normal
conditions?
Answer: Winds moving westward in the South Pacific drive ocean currents toward the west; deep water
rises to replace water driven westward.
Question 13: What would you expect weather to be like on the eastern coast of Australia if the western
coast of South America were experiencing unusually warm, wet weather?
Answer: The eastern coast of Australia would be experiencing unusually dry weather.
Question 14: Which direction do ocean currents in the South Pacific move under El Niño conditions?
Answer: eastward
Question 15: What is the Southern Oscillation?
Answer: the swapping of high and low pressure zones in the South Pacific under El Niño conditions
Question 16: Under which conditions are droughts and wildfires common in Australia?
Answer: under el niño conditions
Question 17: What is the overall effect of the stronger than normal trade winds typical of La Niña
conditions?
Answer: lowering of the South Pacific ocean temperature from normal conditions
Question 18: Recall that global winds impact the direction of surface ocean currents. Examine the
following map showing the Atlantic Ocean off the west coast of Africa. The direction of the surface
current and the prevailing wind do not coincide. What can explain this discrepancy?
Answer: -The Coriolis effect deflects ocean currents in the Southern Hemisphere to the left due to Earth's
rotation. -Because the current is located in the Southern Hemisphere, the subtropical gyre pulls the current
in a counterclockwise direction.
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