Convection Basics
What is the energy source that drives all convection on Earth?
The Sun (solar energy)
Air moves from ______ pressure to ______ pressure.
High pressure to low pressure
A sea breeze happens during the ______.
Day
The lithosphere is also known as the _______.
Crust
Which region of the Earth is warmed by sunlight the most: the poles, the Equator, or the tropics?
Which is warmed by sunlight the least?
Most: Equator
Least: Poles
In a convection current, warm air or water does what?
Rises
Warm, rising air creates what kind of pressure area?
Low pressure
During a sea breeze, air moves from…
Sea → land.
There isn't 1 convection current circulating in the mantle. Instead, there are many of these.
Convection cells
Convection currents create these winds at between the tropics, at the Equator.
Trade winds
In a convection current, cold air or water does what?
Sinks
Cold, sinking air creates what kind of pressure area?
High Pressure
Why does air move from the sea toward the land during the day?
Land heats faster → warm air rises → cool air from the sea moves in.
True or False:
Where one tectonic plate sinks beneath another is called a convection zone.
False
It is a subduction zone.
The winds between the tropics and the polar regions are known as Westerlies because they begin in this direction and blow toward this one.
Begin: West
Blow: From west to east
What must be true about heating for a convection current to form: even or uneven?
Uneven heating
What creates global wind patterns on Earth?
Uneven heating of the Earth (causing convection currents).
A land breeze happens during the ______.
Nighttime
What layer of Earth has convection currents that cause tectonic plates to move?
Mantle
The winds in the polar regions blow from east to west, so they have this name.
Polar Easterlies
This must be added to a system to cause movement of a fluid
Energy
Why does air at the equator rise while air at the poles sinks?
The equator receives more direct sunlight → air is warm and less dense (rises); poles receive less sunlight → air is colder and denser (sinks).
Explain why land breezes reverse direction at night.
Land cools faster → becomes high pressure → air moves toward warmer, lower-pressure ocean.
The heat from this layer of the Earth provides the energy that creates convection currents in the mantle.
The core
Different air temperatures and ____________ ____________ work together to make global winds curve in different directions.
Earth's rotation