Ocean Currents Flashcards
What are surface currents? (drift currents)
wind-driven movement at or near the ocean surface
What are thermohaline currents?
slow, deep currents that affect seawater below the pycnocline
depend on density differences caused by variation in water temperature and salinity
What is a gyre?
flow around the periphery of an ocean basin
current that circles the outside of the oceans by the coasts
What is an ekman spiral and how does it work?
top layer of the water is affected the most by wind and moves, but the lower you go the less the wind affects it. so, the water ends up in a spiral (deck of cards)
what are geostrophic gyres/currents?
classification of where the gyre or current is located
what do western boundary currents do?
move warm equatorial water toward the poles
gulf stream
What is westward intensification?
currents flowing from the west are stronger because of more pressure
What is an eddy?
mini whirlpools
warm or cold water cores depending on where they are
What are countercurrents?
water flowing on the surface in opposite direction as main current
What are undercurrents?
countercurrents beneath main current
(bend below the current and go the other way)
How does water move vertically?
thermohaline circulation
dense water moves down
most dense water in the poles because of forming ice with increased salinity
What are the 5 levels of density?
surface, central, intermediate, deep, bottom
