9 Flashcards
The most important current for promoting water exchange among all three oceans is
Antarctic circumpolar current
Flow direction of the surface ocean is due primarily to
Wind
The surface ocean gyres
Primarily the result of wind patterns
Western boundary currents
Transport enormous volumes of water
Eastern boundary currents
Carry cold water toward the equator
The name of the current that flows north to south along the west coast is the
California current
In the northern hemisphere the water surface of the open ocean moves at
45 degrees to the right of the wind
The densest water in the world is formed in the
Antarctic
Vertical movement of water is due to
Thermohaline circulation
In north gyre surface currents flow in a
Clockwise direction
In the north surface currents flow to the right of wind direction; in the south surface currents flow to the
Left
Of the current circuits, 2 are in the north and
4 in the south
The circulation of water at great depths is driven by
Density
Surface currents extend to
400 meters (1,300 feet)
When pressure differences in the western and eastern pacific cause the trade winds to reverse it is called
Southern oscillation
Gyre
Flow around periphery of an ocean basin
Surface currents flow
Horizontally in the uppermost 400 meters of ocean surface driven by wind friction
Geostrophic gyres
Balance between the pressure gradient and the Coriolis effect
