Wind
Explain why the Earth's atmosphere is in motion
differences in air temperature from the equator to the poles and over different types of terrain
Explain the Ekman spiral and Ekman transport, and how it influences upwelling and downwelling.
Slide 7 Surface Ocean Circulation
Draw the seasonal variation in primary production in tropical, temperate and polar regions.
Slide 9
Why is the Microbial loop important
Recycles organic matter above the thermocline
Increases the efficiency of the marine food web via the utilization of DOM
How does the heat budget for a certain latitude change on a yearly cycle? What causes the seasons?
Heat budget changes based on the amount of sun received by a hemisphere. The tilt of the Earth
Why do gyres form 'mounds' of water?
Gravity forces water back down from this mound
Geostrophic flow: smooth flow of water around gyre, created by Coriolis and gravity
Besides latitude, what else causes primary production to be locally high?
Highest PP in upwelling zones, continental shelves, and high latitudes
Compare/contrast how chemicals cycle and energy flows in ecosystems
Nutrient Cycling: Unlike energy, the atoms used in complex molecules are not lost as heat, but are rearranged.
Energy Flows: Energy flows in one direction; it is not cyclic. Energy flows, and a lot of it is lost in transfers.
Plot the 6 major wind belts on a map of the world
Slide 16 WIND
Completely describe the currents associated with the North Atlantic Gyre
Slide 12
When phytoplankton biomass is highest, is there or isn’t there a lag to when zooplankton biomass is highest?
phytoplankton can more readily take up necessary nutrients in low nutrient environments
What is the ‘standing crop’?
total amount of living biomass (usually of a particular group like phytoplankton or zooplankton) present in a given area or volume of the ocean at a specific time.
What causes the daily Florida thunderstorms in the summer?
Land and sea breezes: daily wind reversals due to land effects
Explain the Coriolis Effect
Coriolis effect – effect of rotation of Earth
- In the Northern Hemisphere, this deflection is to the right, while in the Southern Hemisphere, it’s to the left.
- Apparent deflection of moving air relative to Earth’s surface
- Not a force by physical definition
- Object appears to be moving because earth beneath is moving
- influences large-scale patterns like wind circulation, ocean currents, and the rotation of storms