Land/Ocean
Which heats faster (land or ocean) and why?
Low heat capacity
What type of pressure do hurricanes usually form over
Low pressure
The uneven heating of Earth's surface
What is a gyre?
A large system of rotating ocean currents
What makes winds/currents curve?
The Coriolis effect
Why is it colder at the poles than equatorial regions
The tilt of Earth's axis
Why do tropic storms need to be within 5 degrees latitude of the equator?
It makes the spinning function
How does air move?
From high pressure to low pressure
The Gulf Stream is part of one of the five major gyres on Earth. Which gyre is it?
North Atlantic gyre
What do currents move?
Energy/matter around the earth
Is cold or hot water more dense? Why?
Cold water is more dense. When water is heated, the water molecules move faster and spread out more. This makes hot water less dense than room temperature water.
A rotating storm that forms over warm ocean waters is what?
Hurricane
Is warm or cold air denser? Why?
Warm air has lower density compared to cooler air, and as the temperature increases, the density of the air decreases.
Where are the subtropical gyres and how do they form?
Between the polar and equatorial regions of Earth
wind-driven circulation cause the gyres (large anticyclonic current cells that spiral about a central point) to displace their centres westward
What are the two main ocean currents and their driving forces?
Surface currents: global winds
Deep ocean currents: density
How does pollution differ on land vs the ocean?
Water Pollution is the contamination of streams, lakes, underground water, bays, or oceans by substances harmful to living things. Land pollution is the contamination of land with hazardous waste like garbage and other waste materials that dont belong to the land
Where are hurricanes most common?
Tropical/subtropical regions
What is it called when wind moves water by friction?
Ekman transport
Where do floating plastics accumulate and why?
huge subtropical oceanic areas (gyres)
What is the Gulf Stream?
Currents moving water up towards the East Coast of the US
What is upwelling/downwelling?
Upwelling is the movement of cold, deep, often nutrient-rich water to the surface mixed layer; and downwelling is the movement of surface water to deeper depths.
What has to be present for a Tropical Storm to occur? (Name all 5)
Warm waters
At least 5 degrees latitude from equator
Moisture in atmopshere
Pre-existing disturbance
Unstable conditions
What are high and low pressure systems?
Places where the air pressure is high, are called high pressure systems. A low pressure system has lower pressure at its center than the areas around it
Name the 5 major gyres on Earth
North and South Pacific Subtropical Gyres, the North and South Atlantic Subtropical Gyres, and the Indian Ocean Subtropical Gyre
Main effect of surface currents
Transfer heat away from the equator to polar regions