Ocean Surface Currents (Slides 1 and 2)
Stream like movements of water that occur at or near the surface of the ocean are called ________.
Surface currents
What direction does the East Australian Current flow from the Great Barrier Reef?
Southward
What is it called when water meets land forms?
Continental deflection
What are deep currents?
Stream-like movements of ocean water far below the ocean's surface
What two components are waves made out of?
Crests and troughs
Surface currents are controlled by what four factors?
global winds, the Coriolis effect, continental deflections, and the water temperature.
Name one of the strongest currents in the South Pacific
The East Australian Current.
The currents near the equator that carry the water to other parts of the ocean are called what?
Warm water currents
What controls deep water currents?
Changes in increased water density
What is a crest?
The highest point
Global Winds blowing across the Earth's surface create what?
Surface currents
The East Australian Current transports how much water per second?
40 million cubic meters.
Cool water currents are located closest to where?
The Poles
Where does less-dense water flow?
Always on top of denser water.
What is trough?
The lowest point
How do winds move on the Earth's surface during the Coriolis effect?
They move in a curved way.
How many Olympic sized swimming pools does it take per second to flow along the coastline?
16,000
What kind of surface currents are near Iceland?
Warm surface currents
Ocean water gets denser when it becomes what?
Saltier or colder
The distance between two adjust crests and troughs is called what?
Wavelength
True or False
The northern hemisphere's currents move clockwise, while the southern hemisphere's current move counter clockwise.
True
How wide and how and how deep is the EAC?
About 100 km wide and 1.5 km deep
What type of surface currents are near San-Francisco?
Cold water currents
At what depth does water temperature become colder and depth in creases?
200 meters
How do you get wave height?