Ocean Surface Currents (Slides 1 and 2)
Streamlike movements of water that occur at or near the surface of the ocean are called
surface currents
Finding Nemo may have added just a little
poetic license
If Earth's surface were covered only with water, currents would travel in a, what pattern and where?
fixed pattern across the Earth
Deep currents are WHAT? movements of ocean water far below the ocean surface
streamlike
what two main components are Waves made of
crests and troughs
Surface currents flow like rivers in distinct patterns around the
earth
The East Australian Current is not the fast-flowing warp-tube as it’s portrayed in the movie – it’s an
even better ride than that
When currents meet land forms, they change what?
direction
WHAT? are not controlled by wind or the Coriolis effect
Deep currents
A crest is the highest point and the trough is the what?
lowest point
Surface currents are controlled by four factors:
global winds, the Coriolis effect,
continental deflections, and the water
temperature.
The East Australian Current does
flow along the East coast of Australia
Warm water currents begin near what?
the equator
Deep currents are mainly controlled by WHAT? in water density
increases
A wave is defined as a WHAT?
transfer of energy
Surface currents can reach depths of several hundred meters and lengths of
several thousand kilometres
it does flow southward from the
Great Barrier Reef
Warm-water currents create what?
warmer climates
Ocean water gets WHAT? when it becomes saltier or gets colder
denser
Ocean waves are called WHAT? because they travel through a medium
mechanical waves
Global winds blowing across the Earth’s surface creates
surface currents.
the real East Australian Current is much bigger and
much wilder than in the movie
Cold-water currents create what and where?
create cooler climates in coastal areas
WHAT? water always flows on top of denser water.
Less-dense
Sound can travel through air, WHAT?, or solids, but it can't travel through a vacuum
water