Air - Sea Interactions Flashcards
What 3 things does density increase with?
Temperature, Salinity, and pressure
What is the Pycnocline?
a layer in an ocean or other body of water in which water density increases rapidly with depth.
What happens to Salinity in Low Latitudes?
Salinity decreases with depth (temperature controls density)
What happens to salinity in High Latitudes?
Salinity increases with depth, temperature variations are small, (Salinity controls density)
What is a Halocline?
Seperates ocean layers of different salinity
What are the 3 distinct water masses based on density and where are they located?
1) Mixed Surface Layer - Above thermocline
2) Upper water - Thermocline and pycnocline
3) Deep water- Below thermocline to ocean floor
What are the 2 processes controlling the propagation of light in water?
1) Absorption
2) Scattering
What causes absorption and Scattering?
Water itself, Suspended particles, coloured dissolved organic matter
What is the sum of absorbtion and scattering?
Attenuation: Decrease of light with distance
Why is the ocean blue?
Blue is absorbed the least while scattered the same
Why do objects lose their colour with depth?
The colors other then blue and green are absorbed by the water molecules more rapidly
What adds salt ions to the ocean?
River discharge, volcanic eruptions, and hydrothermal activity
What takes away salt ions?
Absorption and Precipitation, Sea Spray, Biologic processes, hydrothermal activity
Which ocean is more salty?
The Atlantic
Why is the Atlantic more salty?
1) The evaporation-precipitation cycle
2) The transport of precipitation across the Isthmus of Panama
3) Input from the Mediterranean sea
What is residence time?
Average length of time a substance stays in seawater
What is heat capacity?
The amount of time required to raise the temperature of 1 gram of any substance by 1 degree Celsius
What is specific heat?
Heat capacity per mass unit
What is a calorie?
The amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 degree
What is waters sensible heat?
Can be felt, occurs when heat transfers from one system to another
What are the differences between convection and conducton?
1) Convection: Heating through the turbulent circular flow of air or water that transfers the energy
2) Conduction: Heating through direct contact
What is water’s latent heat?
The energy needed to change the state (ice to water, ect) Water has high latent heat
What is the Marine Effect?
When oceans moderate temperature changes from day to night and during different seasons because of high heat capacity
What is the contenential effect?
Land areas have greater change from day to night and in seasons
