VOCAB 1
Average weather patterns for a particular region
CLIMATE
Describe the process that creates ocean convection currents.
Ocean convection currents are created by the movement of water of different densities. Water density is controlled by the water’s temperature and salinity. Less dense water (warmer/less salty) will rise, while more dense water (colder/more salty) will sink. This creates a cyclical movement of cool and hot moisture that sinks or rises due to the density of each particle.
The amount of matter in a given space or volume
DENSITY
Differences in water temperature in the ocean create movement because–
bodies of water at different temperatures have different densities
Relating to the whole world
GLOBAL
Directional movements of ocean water
OCEAN CURRENTS
What is the result of uneven heating of Earth’s oceans from the Sun’s radiation?
Ocean convection currents are the result of uneven heating of the water in Earth’s oceans by radiation from the Sun.
The spinning of Earth on its axis that causes day and night to occur
ROTATION
One of the characteristics of ocean water that causes ocean currents is salinity. Differences in salinity can generate movement in the ocean because the amount of dissolved salt in ocean water correlates to–
the density of the water.
Saltiness or dissolved salt content of a body of water
SALINITY
Average kinetic energy of all the particles in a material; measured by a thermometer in degrees (usually degrees Celsius or degrees Fahrenheit)
TEMPERATURE
A map of sea surface temperatures is provided below. What best explains the patterns in thermal differences that generate ocean currents?
The patterns in thermal differences that generate ocean currents are best explained by the fact that the equator receives more of the Sun’s radiation than other parts of Earth.
The angular distance of a place north or south of the Earth's equator
LATITUDE
Warm water is less dense than cold water. Based on this information and the map provided, it could be predicted that, as a general trend, ocean water will–
rise at the equator.
The angular distance of a place east or west of the meridian
LONGITUDE
An imaginary line drawn around the Earth equally distant from both poles, dividing the Earth into Northern and Southern Hemispheres
EQUATOR
IS A CITY THAT IS FAR INLAND TYPICALLY COOLER AND DRIER THAN A CITY NEAR THE GULF OF MEXICO?
NO. Coastal cities are cooler due to the presence of cooler temperatures of oceans, which absorb heat better than land.
Heat transfer caused by the rising of hotter, less dense fluids and the falling of cooler, denser fluids
CONVECTION
How do oceans influence weather and climate?
Oceans absorb the energy of the sun, store it, and release it.
The apparent deflection of moving air, as seen by an observer on Earth, as a result of Earth’s rotation
CORIOLIS EFFECT
Global air circulation patterns within the atmosphere held to Earth by gravity and warmed as heat radiates from Earth; influenced by convection of warm, less dense air (rises and spreads out) and cold, dense air (sinks)
ATMOSPHERIC MOVEMENT
LIST 3 FACTORS THAT AFFECT WEATHER AND CLIMATE
THE ROTATING EARTH, THE ATMOSPHERE, THE OCEAN, DISTRIBUTION OF LANDFORMS, DISTRIBUTION OF ICE, DISTRIBUTION OF LIVING THINGS, ENERGY
A circular movement of fluids caused by the rising of hotter, less dense fluid and the falling of cooler, denser fluid
CONVECTION CURRENTS
Hurricanes and typhoons are well-organized, rotating storms of low pressure that form in open oceans. These storms can contain very high winds and can raise the local tide more than 5 meters as they come onto land. Hurricanes and typhoons are examples of–
energy stored in the ocean being released.
Controlled by both temperature and salinity
THERMOHALINE