Atmosphere/Ocean Relationship Flashcards
Warm surface currents are heat _______. Cold surface currents are heat ________.
sources; sinks
True or False: Oceans are a net-sink for C02
True
What 3 factors determine C02 uptake in the ocean?
Temperature
Partial Pressure
Biological Uptake
Describe the “biological pump”
Sunlight (the source of energy) and plants living at the surface of the ocean. The plants take up the C02 to photosynthesize. Once the plant dies, it falls through the water column and gets eaten by water animals. Those animals extract the energy from the organic matter and and release it as 0_2 (respiration)
What is Henry’s Law?
the solubility of a gas in a liquid is directly proportional to the partial pressure of the gas above the liquid
Is CO2 more or less soluble in cold water?
More
Respiration _____ C02. Photosynthesis _______ C02.
produces; consumes
What’s the rotational velocity of the earth?
1600km/h
True or False: Higher latitudes moves slower than lower latitudes
True
Two things that affect the magnitude of the Coriolis Effect?
- How fast the Earth is rotating
2. How fast the object is moving over the surface
Define high/low pressure
> 1013 mb = High pressure
< 1013 mb = Low Pressure
The jet stream is an example of what kind of wind?
Geostrophic wind
Geostrophic Wind
Moves packages of air around the atmosphere at altitudes above the atmospheric boundary layer
Boundary layer
the lower region of the troposphere where the land surface is interacting with the winds.
(Confined below an average altitude of 1000m so responds to surface forcings with a time scale of 1 hour or less)
________ force combines with the Coriolis force to balance the horizontal pressure gradient force
Frictional
True/False: Friction’s influence on the horizontal wind increases with altitude
False
What effect does friction have on the Coriolis Effect?
Friction slows down the wind, weakening the Coriolis force
Cyclone
the spiral around a low pressure region.
Characterized by stormy weather
Anticyclone
the spiral around a high pressure region
Characterized by dry, clear skies
What is the Jet Stream? Does it strengthen or weaken in the winter? Does it shift north or south in the summer?
Strengthens in the winter
Shifts to the north in the summer
How does the ocean interact with the atmosphere and on what spatial and temporal scales
The way in which the atmosphere influences the ocean as a whole is by the transfer of energy between the mixed layer to the lower layers
What role does Ekman transport play in ocean gyres and coastal zones
Upwelling/Downwelling affects the amount of C02 the ocean absorbs and emits
Difference between La Nina and El Nino. Which is the cause of more upwelling? Less?
La Nina: More upwelling in Eastern Equatorial Pacific as a result of trade winds intensifying
El Nino: Less upwelling in Eastern Equatorial Pacific as a result of trade winds weakening
True/False: Water on the western rim of the Pacific is much warmer than the eastern rim
True
Two Properties of Seawater that define its composition
Temperature
Salinity
Deep ocean circulation driven by variations in density
Thermohaline Circulation
Brine
as water freezes, it rejects the salt. That buildup is called a brine.
Ekman Spiral
the way the ocean responds to the wind blowing above it. A steady wind causes surface waters to move at an angle of 45 degrees
Through a depth of about 500 feet (100-150m), the net water movement due to the Ekman spiral will be at ____ degrees to the right of the wind direction
90
During La Nina, the high-pressure cell in the northern hemisphere subtropics (strengthens/weakens)?
strengthens
The net Ekman transport will be at ____ degrees to the ______
90; left
Effects of the Ekman transport
- changes height of the surface
- creates gradients in air pressure
- the winds balance the magnitude of the Coriolis effect
Geostrophic ocean current
the winds balancing the magnitude of the Coriolis effect. Defines the boundary of east and west currents
Upwelling
where Ekman transport moves surface waters away from the coast and surface waters are replaced by waters are replaced by water that wells up from below
Adding water vapor (increases/decreases) air density per unit volume
decreases since when vapor content increases, oxygen and nitrogen are decreasing, thus reducing the mass of the air
Gyre
large-scale systems of rotating currents
Currents that flow on the eastern boundary are called _________. They flow from ______ latitudes to _______ latitudes in the northern hemisphere.
eastern boundary currents.
Flow from north to south in northern hemisphere (higher to lower latitudes) and the opposite in the southern hemisphere
Currents that flow on the western boundary:
western boundary currents
Currents that are warm, deep and fast flowing on the west side of ocean basins and carry water from the tropics poleward, faster than the eastern counterpart
Ex. jet stream
The Coriolis Force
free-moving objects affected by the earth’s rotation
- apparent deflective force
- increases w/ speed
- to the “right” in the northern hemisphere
The magnitude of the Coriolis force varies with ______
latitude.
Coriolis Effect changes an object’s speed
False. It only changes its direction
Newton’s first law of motion
a moving object remains constant in a straight-line motion unless acted upon
What is viscosity and what are the two types?
Viscosity is a resisting force (friction)
The two types of viscosity are molecular and eddy (large irregular motions in fluids).
Eddies
visible swirls in fluids. (A type of friction)
Gravity
force of attraction between Earth and another object with a magnitude directly proportional between to the product of the masses of Earth and the object
True/False: Gravity always acts directly downward
True. Does not affect horizontal wind. Influences vertical air (updrafts/downdrafts in convection winds)
True/False: Gravity is responsible for the downhill drainage of cold, dense air
True
Horizontal Pressure Gradient
Responsible for initiating all air motion. Perpendicular to isobars away from regions of high air pressure to areas of low pressure
The _______(closer/further) the spacing of isobars, the ________(greater/less) the magnitude of the pressure gradient force.
closer;greater
The 4 forces that act on atmospheric circulation
- Horizontal Pressure Gradient
- Coriolis Force
- Friction
- Gravity
The Hadley Cell
The cell that operates between the equator and 30 degrees N
The ______cell collides with the extremely cold air from the ________
Ferrel ; Polar
Gradient wind
a large-scale horizontal and frictionless wind blowing parallel to the isobars.
Influenced by the horizontal pressure gradient and the Coriolis force
True/False: Due to friction, near surface air crosses isobars at an angle
True
Due to the roughness of Earth’s surface, friction _____ (speeds up/slows) the horizontal wind and shifts the direction across isobars and towards ______(higher/lower) pressure.
slows ; lower
What is Daltons Law
the air pressure is a function of all the vapors that make up the atmospheric volume
What is the weight of air pressure on the surface?
14.69psi
What two factors affect air pressure?
- Mass
2. Density
What’s the ideal gas law?
Ideal Gas Law PV =nRT
The point at which the atmosphere can hold no more water
Saturation
compares the actual amount of water vapor in the air with the amount of water vapor that would be present if the air was completely saturated
What is relative hunidity
True/False: Probability of cloud development increases as the relative humidity nears saturation
True
Front
narrow zone of transition between two air masses that differ in temp, humidity or both
Orographic lifting
where air is forced upward by topography, the physical relief of the land
Cold front
cold, dry air displaces warm humid air by sliding under it and forcing the warm air upward
