Surface Currents
What is the main force that drives surface ocean currents?
Wind
What is the name of the process that drives circulation of heat within the ocean?
Convection currents
What does El Nino mean?
The boy
Where would you go to stay safe from a tornado?
Get low.
Where do warm ocean currents come from?
The equator
Where do warm ocean currents generally come from?
The equator
Thermohaline circulation is the large-scale movement of ocean water driven by differences in temperature and salinity.
What is the term for the periodic warming of the central and eastern Pacific Ocean?
El nino
Why does a hurricane die down when it reaches land?
It loses its energy source of warm ocean water
What is upwelling?
Upwelling is the process in which cold, nutrient-rich water from the deep ocean rises to the surface.
What direction do ocean currents move in the N. Hemisphere?
Clockwise
What is the main driving force behind deep sea circulation?
Differences in density
El Niño often weakens what winds that normally blow from east to west across the tropical Pacific?
Trade winds
What is most essential for formation of a thunderstorm?
Unstable atmosphere
The North Pacific garbage patch is caused by what?
Ocean gyres
Boats traveling across the ocean can move faster or slower depending on what?
Surface currents
What effect does the ocean have on land?
Effects climate and weather
What happens to the Pacific jet stream during La Nina?
It shifts north
How do we classify hurricanes and tornados?
Hurricanes: Wind speed
Tornadoes: Wind speed and damage
Explain the Coriolis effect
deflection of moving objects caused by Earth's rotation, influencing winds, ocean currents, etc.
What is a gyre?
A circular system of ocean currents
How does the global conveyer belt help regulate Earth's climate?
Transporting heat from equatorial regions toward the poles
What direction do trade winds blow normally?
East to West
What is the name of the scale used to measure hurricanes?
Saffir-Simpson Scale
Oceans cover approximately what percentage of Earth’s surface?
71%