Chapter 5 The circulation of the Oceans question n answers graded A+ 2023/2024

Chapter 5 The circulation of the OceansThe Ocean - correct answer Have high heat capacity. So, slight differences in incoming solar radiation from place to place have little impact on surface temperature of ocean (lateral temperature and density differ slightly). The Ocean - correct answer Therefore, the ocean does not circulate as a direct response to surface heating. Wind Stress - correct answer Wind over ocean causes friction at surface --> wind-drift currents (force of wind acting on surface). Convergence - correct answer Water piles up (or converges) in the middle of the gyre. This happens because of wind-driven surface-ocean currents, Earth's rotation, and ultimately, friction. Downwelling Divergence - correct answer Divergence can occur at the ocean surface when two ocean currents split. Upwelling will occur at that location. The southeast trades produce the westward-flowing South Equatorial Current and the net Ekman Transport is to the left of the wind flow, toward the South (hence, divergence occurs near the equator. Important areas of divergence: off the southwest coast of North America and the West Coast of North America due to easterly winds and southward-moving currents. Important areas of divergence: off the west coast of South America and Southern Africa. Where northward-moving currents have same effects. Upwelling - correct answer The rising of cooler water to the surface to replace warm, divergent surface water. It is rich in nutrients, and brings them to the surface. Downwelling - correct answer the process of accumulation and sinking of higher density material beneath lower density material, such as cold or saline water beneath warmer or fresher water or cold air beneath warm air. It is the sinking limb of a convection cell. Geostrophic Current - correct answer El Nino - Souther Oscillation Events - correct answer Major shift in oceanic circulation that occurs every 2-10 years. It is associated with large changes in articulation of the tropical atmosphere (gives rise to significant climate anomalies). Ocean Circulation - correct answer Persistent easterly winds at surface in the Pacific ocean produces a westward-flowing ocean current --> water piles up in western part of ocean. - This east-to-west movement of water thickens the warm surface layer in the west and thins it in the east. - The thinner surface layer in the east allows the upwelling of colder, nutrient-rich water below, which promotes high levels of biological productivity and large fish populations. ENSO Year - correct answer Pressure increases over Australia and decreases in the central pacific year NON-ENSO Year - correct answer Low pressure (rising air) at the surface over Australia and Indonesia and high pressure (subsiding air) at the surface in the central and eastern Pacific. Salinity - correct answer The salt content of a water mass. - deep-ocean circulation is driven by differences in water density. - These differences are caused by variations in temperature and salinity. - sodium and chloride (Na, Cl) - avg salinity of world's oceans is 35% Constituents of Sea Salt - correct answer Chloride (Cl), sodium (Na+), sulfate (SO), magnesium (Mg2+), calcium (Ca2+) and potassium (K+)