Test Questions
Explain the suns role in generating ocean currents
Uneven heating of the earth
What are the two types of currents?
Deep and surface
What is the coriolis effect?
The apparent curvature of wind and ocean currents due to the rotation of the earth.
How do ocean currents help climate?
They help regulate the climate.
How many places can convection occur on Earth and what are they?
Three; Atmosphere, Ocean, and Mantle.
Identify 3 ways that convection pccurs on earth
Oceans, Atmosphere, and Mantle
What drives/causes the convection currents within Earths oceans?
The sun
What happens to ocean currents because of the coriolis effect?
They circulate clockwise in the northern hemisphere and counter-clockwise in the southern hemisphere.
What do ocean currents do with the water?
They distribute the water that has been unevenly heated by the sun‘s radiation.
Warm and cold currents distributing heat from the equator and poles.
Ocean
Why is the water off the coast of California typically cooler than water in the Gulf of Mexico?
The water in California’s coast comes from the North Pole while the water in the Gulf of Mexico comes from the equator.
What are ocean currents?
Which way do the currents go in the northern hemisphere? In the southern hemisphere?
Clockwise in the northern hemisphere and counterclockwise in the southern hemisphere.
Convection in Earths oceans
Occurs with water in the ocean
heats and cools slower
causes ocean currents that can affect the climate in areas closest to coastlines
Warm air rising and cold air sinking which has an impact on weather patterns
Atmosphere
Describe the climate in a coastal area near a warm ocean current
What are deep currents?
The movement of water far below the oceans surface.
What type of water do ocean currents near the equator bring? The poles?
What does regions located near warm ocean currents tend to have? Regions near cold ocean currents?
Regions near warm ocean currents tend to have warmer and more humid climate. Regions near cold ocean currents tend to have cooler climate.
Currents of magma that slowly drove the motion of tectonic plates
Mantle
Describe the Coriolis effect and its impact on ocean currents.
It depends where it is coming from. The coriolis effect is the rotation of the earth and the curvature of the wind.
What are surface currents?
The movement of water near the surface caused by wind
Both
Provide a way to transfer heat
have an impact on temperatures, precipitation, etc.
occur on earth
Give an example of ocean currents affecting climate.
The UK is located near a warm ocean currents and experiences as much warmer climate than areas of Eastern North America which are located near a cold ocean currents.
Convection in Earths atmosphere. (Section of the venn diagram)
Occurs with gases in the air
heats and cools quicker
causes wind that can affect weather patterns