General Questions
what percent of the earth is made up of water
70-71 percent of the earth
what major current carries warm water along us east coast to eu
gulf stream current carries it
what everyday analogy is usedto explain ocean stirring
milk and cofee
what happens to ocean water when it warms up
The ocean water expands
what is the largest species of shark
whale shark
What causes ocean tides
gravitational pull of the moon
what force causes by earths rotation bends winds and current paths
the corilis effect
what are the large rings of water that break off from currents called
eddies or mesosclae rings
what proportion of current sea level rise come from thermal expansion versus ice melting
1/3 thermal 2/3 ice
what is the biggest ocean
pacific ocean
what fraction of excess heat from climate change is stored in the ocean
90 percent of heat
what is the name of the larger ciruclar current systems in earths ocean basin
The gyres circular current
what type of turbelance occurs on a scale of 10-100km
macroturbulance
what nyc location provided long term tide guage records of sea level
battery park
what ocean does the red sea belong to
indian ocean
what is the main reason ocean can transport heat carbon, and oxygen across large distances
ocean circulation driven by winds, Earth's rotation,and buoyancy.
what type of ciruclation is driven by temp and salinity differences
thermohaline
what kinds of waves mix water across density layers
internal waves
why is it difficult to measure heat in deep ocean
harder to observe directly
if sea water density increaes by 0.2 percent and the average depth is 4000m what is the aprox pressure increase
0.2x4000 = 8m
how does the pressure of the bottom of the ocean relate that of the atmosphere
500x more pressure
roughly how long can it take a parcel of water to complete the global thermohaline circulation loop
it takes decades to centuries
why is it hard to mix water vertically
because the ocean is layered lighter warm water on top of denser cold water
why is it challenging to detect whether extreme floods are becoming more common due to sea level rise
extremes are rare events making stats difficult to be accurate
what is the average residence time of a water molecule in the deep ocean before it returns to the surface
1000 years is the average residence time