U2L3 Oceans and Climate

Question 1

What is a similar pattern corresponding to settlements?

Answer 1

A similar pattern is seen in other cities: as settlements move inland, expect higher summer highs, lower winter lows, and greater daily variation in the temperature.

Example:
The pattern is even seen near the Great Lakes. Milwaukee, on the shores of Lake Michigan, has milder summers and winters and smaller daily swings in temperature than Madison, 129 k (80 mi.) inland.

Question 2

How can a body of water change the temperature?

Answer 2

A large body of water will soak up heat when it is warm and release it when it is cool. This modulating effect on local climate is seen over cycles of both the day and the year. On a longer and planet-wide scale, Earth’s oceans regulate the temperature of the planet as a whole. The oceans absorb much of the incident solar energy and later radiate that energy back into the atmosphere.

Question 3

The light that reaches the Earth’s surface is what type of wavelength?

Answer 3

The light that reaches Earth’s surface is largely in the visible and near infrared range of wavelengths.

Question 4

What is definition of near infrared?

Answer 4

Wavelengths of electromagnetic energy just outside the visible light wavelengths

Question 5

How are the way sunlight interacts with landmasses and sunlight different?

Answer 5

Unlike landmasses, where solar energy is absorbed in a thin layer at the surface, sunlight can penetrate seawater to a depth of tens of meters. In addition to providing a far greater depth over which energy can be absorbed, oceans cover around 70 percent of Earth’s surface—more than twice the area covered by land. Water’s specific heat capacity is about four times that of land, so a section of water can absorb far more energy than an equal area of land before its temperature significantly rises.

Question 6

True or False.

Most thermal energy at Earth’s surface is stored in the oceans.

Answer 6

True

Question 7

What is water’s heat capacity compared to land’s heat capacity?

Answer 7

Water’s specific heat capacity is about four times that of land, so a section of water can absorb far more energy than an equal area of land before its temperature significantly rises.

Question 8

Incident solar energy is strongest where on earth?

Answer 8

At the equator, where the sun’s rays are almost perpendicular to the surface

Question 9

Most solar energy flows into Earth’s surface near the ____.

Answer 9

Equator

Question 10

Because solar energy flows mostly near the equator, that is mostly water, what is it’s albedo?

Answer 10

Most solar energy therefore flows into Earth’s surface near the equator, and this region is mostly covered in water, which has a low albedo and is excellent at absorbing thermal energy. Some of this energy returns to the atmosphere through evaporation. It can also be transferred through conduction and convection when a warm ocean heats the cooler air above it.

Question 11

What is the definition of albedo?

Answer 11

The paleness of a surface

Question 12

All object with a temperature above absolute zero radiate ____.

Answer 12

Electromagnetic energy

Question 13

Just a fun little extra info to make you smarter :D

Answer 13

In the tropics, more electromagnetic energy is absorbed than emitted. In the polar regions, more electromagnetic energy is emitted than absorbed. The pattern is energy in at the equator and out at the poles. In the atmosphere, this energy is transferred by wind as warm air rises and cool air sinks. In the ocean, the thermal energy is transferred in ocean currents. Warm water is carried in surface currents toward the poles, where it cools and sinks.

On a sheet of lined notebook paper, draw a circle several inches across. The circle represents Earth, and the spaces between adjacent lines represent equal amounts of incoming sunlight. Near the middle of your circle, which represents areas near the equator, the sunlight is concentrated on a small area. As you move away from the poles the amount of sunlight stays the same, but the area over which it spreads grows larger with latitude. The incoming sunlight per unit of surface area is much greater in the tropics than near the poles.

Question 14

What are the 3 layers of the ocean?

Answer 14

1. Surface waters
2. Thermocline
3. Deep ocean

Question 15

Describe the surface water layer of the ocean.

Answer 15

Outside of the polar regions, sunlight provides a lot of thermal energy to this layer of water. Sea surface temperatures are just below freezing at the poles and around 29°C (85°F) at the equator. The surface layer is stirred by wind-driven waves and by tides. When the atmosphere is warmer than the surface water, heat is transferred to the ocean by conduction from the atmosphere, and vice versa when the atmosphere is cooler than the surface water.

Question 16

Describe the thermocline layer of the ocean.

Answer 16

The surface waters are defined by being well mixed and, in a given region, fairly uniform in temperature. Below about 400 m (1,312 ft.) in depth, temperature starts to decrease sharply with depth until around 1,000 m (3,281 ft.). At this point the temperature becomes almost uniform again, marking the top of the deep ocean. This middle layer is called the thermocline. Because the warmest layer is on the top of the ocean and colder water beneath, and warm water floats on colder water, the different layers do not undergo much vertical mixing.

Question 17

Describe the deep ocean layer of the ocean.

Answer 17

In the deep ocean the temperature is again almost uniform, 0°–4°C (32°–39°F). The deep ocean contains about 90 percent of all ocean water, and does not mix much with the other layers. What exchange there is occurs over very long time periods of hundreds or even thousands of years. Warming of surface waters now will affect the deep ocean for centuries.

Question 18

What does thermohaline mean?

Answer 18

“Thermo” means heat and “haline” means salty

Question 19

What the the thermohaline circulation?

Answer 19

Thermohaline circulation describes the way oceanic water moves around the globe.

Question 20

What two factors determine how dense water is?

Answer 20

Temperature and salinity determine how dense water is.

Question 21

What is denser cold or hot water?

Answer 21

Cold water is denser than hot water.

Question 22

What is denser, salty water or fresh water?

Answer 22

Salty water is denser than fresh water

Question 23

Is cold and salty water denser or not as dense as other water?

Answer 23

Cold and salty water is very dense.

Question 24

What is less dense? Water at the poles or water at the equator?

Answer 24

Water at the equator

Question 25

What causes the thermohaline circulation?

Answer 25

Water at the poles is cold and salty and therefore dense. Sunlight does not hit the poles directly which makes the water cold. As ice forms, it leaves the salt behind, making the surrounding water very salty. The area around the equator receives more direct sunlight, therefore the water is less dense and less salty. As the water around the poles gets colder and saltier, it sinks, causing less dense water to replace it. This movement forms the global conveyor belt of water.

Question 26

What affects the density of seawater?

Answer 26

Cold water is denser than warm water, and salty water is denser than less salty water.

Question 27

What happens when dense and less-dense saltwater meet?

Answer 27

When they meet, the denser layer sinks beneath the less dense layer. Cold water sinks below warmer water, and salty water below less salty water.

Question 28

What happens ocean water evaporates?

Answer 28

When ocean water evaporates it increases the temperature and humidity of the surrounding air. At altitude, the water vapor condenses into clouds and is carried by the trade winds, in the atmospheric circulation driven by heat imbalances in the atmosphere.

Question 29

True of False.

Just the top three meters of the ocean store more heat than the entire atmosphere.

Answer 29

True

Question 30

How the ocean’s thermal energy stabilize Earth’s temperature over time?

Answer 30

The ocean slowly warms in the summer, removing heat from the air above it, and cools in the winter, adding heat to the air above it.

Question 31

What are phytoplankton? What do they do?

Answer 31

Phytoplankton are tiny, free-floating plants in the ocean and the base of the ocean food chain. Like plants on land, they take in carbon dioxide and nutrients and release oxygen. Phytoplankton are the source of half the oxygen we breathe. Their activity depends on sunlight, water temperature, and the nutrients available in the seawater. Cold water tends to be higher in nutrients.

Question 32

Compared to the atmosphere, the ocean transfers ____ heat from the equator to the poles.

a. far more
b. about the same amount of
c. far less

Answer 32

Correct. The atmosphere and the ocean transfer about the same amount of heat from the equator to the poles. The atmosphere uses wind, while the ocean uses ocean currents.

Question 33

Sunlight is reflected, absorbed, and transmitted by Earth’s atmosphere. Which are the chief constituents of the electromagnetic energy that reaches Earth’s surface? Select the two correct answers.

far infrared (lower energy infrared)

near infrared (higher energy infrared)

ultraviolet light

visible light

radio waves

Answer 33

• near infrared (higher energy infrared)

- visible light

Question 34

Which qualities of the ocean help it to absorb heat? Select the three correct answers.

transparency to electromagnetic radiation

large surface area

a low evaporation point

a high specific heat capacity compared to land or air

Water can be a solid, liquid, or gas at Earth’s surface

proximity to land

Answer 34

• transparency to electromagnetic radiation
• large surface area
• a high specific heat capacity compared to land or air

Question 35

Which of the following describe how water mixes in a thermohaline current? Select the two correct answers.

Less salty water sinks under saltier water.

Warm water sinks under colder water.

Cold water sinks under warmer water.

Saltier water sinks under less salty water.

Answer 35

• Cold water sinks under warmer water.

- Saltier water sinks under less salty water.