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Oceanography II
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| The principal ocean surface current pattern consists of | subtropical and subpolar gyres that are large, circular-moving loops of water powered by the major wind belts of the world. |
| upwelling and downwelling cause | vertical mixing between surface and deep water. |
| upwelling brings | cold, deep, nutrient-rich water to the surface |
| upwelling results in | high productivity |
| ____ is a combined oceanic-atmosphere phenomenon that occurs periodically in the tropical Pacific Ocean. | |
| The opposite of El Nino | La Nina |
| The direction and temp of water in the El Nino | warm water to the east |
| Thermohaline circulation describes | the movement of deep currents, which are created at the surface in high latitudes, where they become cold and dense, |
| What happens when deep currents created at the surface in high latitudes become cold and dense | they sink |
| the ocean transmits wave energy by | circular orbital motion |
| circular orbital motion | where the water particles move in circular orbits and return to approximately the same location. |
| deep-water waves exist in water that is deeper than _____ and move at speeds controlled by ______ | wave base; wavelength |
| shallow-water waves exist in water shallower than ____ their wavelength | 1/20th |
| shallow-water waves move at speeds controlled by ____ | water depth |
| transitional waves are | intermediate of deep-water and shallow-water waves |
| constructive interference results from ______ and creates | in-phase overlapping of waves; larger waves |
| destructive interference results from _____ and reduces ____ | waves overlapping out of phase;wave height |
| as waves come into shallow water and feel bottom their speed and wavelength | decrease |
| wave height and wave steepness increase cause | waves to break |
| wave refraction is | the bending of waves caused when waves slow in shallow water |
| wave reflection is | the bouncing back of wave energy caused when waves strike a hard barrier. |
| most tsunamis are generated by | underwater fault movement |
| under water fault movement | transfers energy to the entire water column |
| How long is a lunar day? | 24hrs50min |
| How long is a solar day? | 24hrs |
| lunar bulges are ___ the size of solar bulges | twice |
| the rise and fall of the tides are caused by | Earth's rotation carrying various locations into and our of the tidal bulges. |
| a diurnal tidal pattern exhibits | one high and low tide each lunar day |
| a semidiurnal tidal patter exhibits | two high and two low tides daily of about the same height |
| a mixed tidal pattern | usually has two high and two low tides of different heights daily, but may also exhibit diurnal characteristics |
| the daily change in water level as a result of ocean tides can be harnessed as | a source of energy |
| the beach is ____ and includes____(4) | coastal area affected by breaking waves; the berm, beach face, longshore trough, and longshore bar |
| smaller, low-energy waves move sand | up the beach and toward the berm |
| smaller, low-energy waves create | a summertime beach |
| larger high-energy waves scour sand | from the berm |
| larger high-energy waves create | a wintertime beach |
| erosinal shores are characterized by (4) | cliffs, sea arches, sea stacks, and marine terraces. |
| depositional shores are characterized by (5) | spits, tombolos, barrier islands, deltas, beach compartments |
| longshore currents are produced by | waves approaching the beach at an angle a |
| longshore currents produce | longshore drift |
| ocean currents are either ____ driven or ____ driven | wind; density |
| wind-driven currents move water horizontally and occur primarily in the ocean's surface waters are called | surface currents |
| density-driven circulation moves water vertically and accounts for the thorough mixing of deep masses of ocean water are called | deep currents |
| the ultimate source of energy that drives currents | the sun |
| what are the ways that surface currents can be measured? | directly/indirectly |
| what do dynamic topography maps show? | speed and direction of surface currents |
| how are dynamic topography maps formed? | using radar altimeters |
| what do radar altimeters determine | the limps and bulges at the ocean surface |
| what do the lumps and bulges reflect? | the shape of the underlying sea floor and current flow |
| how many subtropical gyres exist worldwide? | 5 |
| how many main currents exist within each subtropical gyre? | 4 |
| eastern boundary currents | turned toward the equator |
| example of eastern boundary currents | canary current; benguela current |
| western boundary currents | turned away from the eqauator |
| examples of western boundary currents | gulf stream, brazil current |
| upwelling | vertical movement of cold, deep, nurtrient-rich water to the surface |
| downwelling | vertical movement of surface water to deeper parts of the ocean |
| eqautorial upwelling | water that diverges along the eqautor |
| coastal upwelling | water rises from below to replace the water moving away from the shore |
| characterization of coastal upwelling | high concentrations of nutrients= productivity |
| causes of upwelling (5) | equatorial, coastal, sea floor obstructions, sharp bend in coastline, and offshore wind |
| warm core rings | flow clockwise and northeast.warm cored surrounded by colder water that pinch off a current. they remove large volumes of water |
| cold core rings | flow counterclockwise and have cold core surrounded by warmer. move southwest |
| which ocean is the only place in the world where reversing seasonal winds actually cause major ocean surface currents to switch direction | |
| what is formed as a result of wintertime NE monsoons? | equatorial countercurrent |
| atomospheric pressure in NE and SW monsoons | high-NE, low-SW |
| northeast monsoons season? | winter |
| southwest monsoon season? | summertime |
| winds associated with NE/SW monsoons | NE tradewinds-NE; SE tradewinds-SW |
| ocean surface currents NE monsoons | NE- North Equatorial Current to flow E-W, Somali current S |
| ocean surface currents SW monsoon | winds reverse, north equatorial current replaced by SW monsoon current, flows in oppo direction, somali current reversed N and feeds the SW monsoon current |
| El Nino accompanies what kind of pressure? | high air surface pressure in the western Pacific |
| La Nina accompanies what kind of pressure? | low air surface pressure in the western Pacific |
| el nino occur on average | about every 2-10 years |
| strong el nino events produce | unusual weather worldwide. |
| El Niño (ENSO warm phase) is the name of | a warm water current that occurs periodically around Christmastime in the equatorial Pacific Ocean |
| Southern Oscillation describes | the switching of atmospheric pressure that accompanies El Niño. |
| El Niño events are characterized by | warmer than normal water and a deepened thermocline in the east Pacific, a rise in sea level along the equator, a decrease or reversal of the southeast trade winds, and reduced upwelling and less abundant marine life in waters near Peru and Ecuador. |
| La Niña conditions (ENSO cool phase) are characterized by | conditions opposite of El Niño |
| the Pacific Ocean experiences alternating | El nino and la nina patterns |
| thermocline | as an invisible blanket which separates the upper mixed layer from the calm deep water below. |
| origin of thermohaline vertical circulation | high latitudes at the surface causing water to become cold and its salinity increases as sea ice forms. The water then becomes more dense and sinks, initiating deep ocean currents. Salinity and temp remain unchanged |
| deep currents only form in high latitude regions because | surface water there is the same as below, the water column is isothermal, no thermocline or pycnocline |
| pycnocline | mixed layer, a stable density gradient |
| The two major deep water masses | North Atlantic deep water; Antartic Bottom water |
| the densest water in the open ocean | antarctic deep water |
| rapid winter freezing produces very cold, high-density water that sinks down the continental slope of antartica | antarctic deep waters |
| why do ocean currents have to potential to generate even more power than wind farms? | currents carry much more energy b/c water is 800 times more dense than air |
| advantages of building offshore current power systems | can generate electricity |
| disadvantages of building offshore current power systems | unknown harm to marine life, currents cause for irregular generation power, $, maintenance |
| all waves begin as | disturbances |
| disturbing force | any release of energy (rock thrown into a pond;raditaing ripples) cause waves |
| several ways in which waves form | wind blowing across ocean surface, movement of fluids (air and water) with different densities, mass movements, human activities, tides, uplift or downdropping of large areas of sea floor |
| how are most waves generated | wind generation |
| why is the development of internal waves likely within the pycnocline? | |
| longitudinal waves | particles move back and forth in direction of energy transmission |
| longitudinal waves will trasmit energy | through all states of matter |
| transverse waves | particles move back and forth at right angles to direction of energy transmission |
| transverse waves will transmit energy | only through solids |
| orbital waves | involves components of both longitudinal and transverse waves |
| WAVEBASE | Waves where the water depth exceeds the wave base are called DEEP-WATER waves. |
| wavebase= | 1/2 wavelength |
Created by:
kayleighomals