Question | Answer |
what is a current? | a large stream of moving water that flows through the oceans. |
what does a current do? | it carries water great distances. some currents move water at the surface of the ocean while others move the deep water. |
things that can effect ocean currents. | wind, temp of the water, density of the water, el Niño. |
what are surface currents? | is when the affect of water to a depth of several hundred meters, are driven mainly by winds. They move in a circular pattern in 5 major ocean basins. |
what is the gulf stream? | largest and most powerful surface current in the north Atlantic ocean. |
what is the gulf stream caused by? | strong winds from the west. |
what does the gulf stream carry? | warm water from the gulf of Mexico to the Caribbean sea, then northward along the coast of the U.S |
what is the coriolis effect? | the effect of earths rotation on the direction or winds and currents. |
what does the coriolis effect do? | in the northern hemisphere it causes the current s to curve clockwise. In the southern hemisphere it causes the currents to curve counter clockwise. |
what are deep currents? | they are caused by differences in density rather then surface winds. |
what does density depend on? | temp and salinity. |
what do the deep currents do? | they carry cold water from the poles back toward the equator. |
what are the deep currents also affected by? | the colriolos. |
what is el Niño? | abnormal climate event that occurs every 2 to 7 years in the pacific ocean. it begins when an unusual pattern of winds form over the western pacific. |
what does el Niño causes? | a vast sheet of warm water to move eastward toward the south American coast. it can last to 1 to 2 years before the usual winds and currents return. |