Ocean Currents Why is Ocean Circulation Important Transport
- Slides: 36
Ocean Currents
Why is Ocean Circulation Important? • Transport nutrients and organisms • Influences weather and climate • Influences commerce
Density of air • Warm, low density air rises • Cool, high density air sinks
90 o 60 o High pressure, dry climate Low pressure, wet climate High pressure, dry climate 30 o 0 o 30 o 60 o 90 o ITCZ intertropical convergence zone= doldrums Low pressure, wet climate
The Coriolis effect • The Coriolis effect – Is a result of Earth’s rotation – Causes moving objects to follow curved paths: • In Northern Hemisphere, curvature is to right • In Southern Hemisphere, curvature is to left
Ocean Currents Surface Currents The upper 400 meters of the ocean (10%). Deep Water Currents Thermal currents (90%)
Wind-driven surface currents
Wind-Driven and Density-Driven Currents • Wind-driven currents occur in the uppermost 100 m or less
Sailors have know about ocean currents for centuries Sailors have know that “rivers” flow in the seas since ancient times. They used them to shorten voyages, or were delayed by trying to stem them. If navigators do not correct to deflection by currents, they may be far away from where they think they are and meet disaster.
Ben Franklin and the Gulf Stream
Matthew Fontaine Maury The first systematic study of currents was done by Maury based on logbooks in the US Navy’s Depot of Charts and Instruments. His charts and “Physical Geography of the Sea” assisted navigators worldwide. http: //www. npg. si. edu/exh/brady/gallery/97 gal. html
Current Gyres are large circular-moving loops of water Five main gyres (one in each ocean basin): • North Pacific • South Pacific • North Atlantic • South Atlantic • Indian • Generally 4 currents in each gyre • Centered about 30 o north or south latitude
Pacific Ocean surface currents
What do Nike shoes, rubber ducks, and hockey gloves have to do with currents?
Lost at Sea
Duckie Progress • January 1992 - shipwrecked in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of China • November 1992 - half had drifted north to the Bering Sea and Alaska; the other half went south to Indonesia and Australia • 1995 to 2000 - spent five years in the Arctic ice floes, slowly working their way through the glaciers 2001 - the duckies bobbed over the place where the Titanic had sunk • 2003 - they were predicted to begin washing up onshore in New England, but only one was spotted in Maine • 2007 - a couple duckies and frogs were found on the beaches of Scotland southwest England.
2004 -2007 Barber’s Point
North Pacific Subtropical Gyre • “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” • Estimate: 46, 000 pieces of floating garbage/mi 2.
North Pacific Subtropical Gyre 135° to 155°W and 35° to 42°N
North Pacific Subtropical Gyre Great Pacific Garbage Patch- Good Morning America 2010 http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=u. Lr. VCI 4 N 67 M&feature=player_embedded http: //marinedebris. noaa. gov/info/patch. html#6
Upwelling and downwelling Vertical movement of water ( ) – Upwelling = movement of deep water to surface • Hoists cold, nutrient-rich water to surface • Produces high productivities and abundant marine life – Downwelling = movement of surface water down • Moves warm, nutrient-depleted surface water down • Not associated with high productivities or abundant marine life
El Niño • El Niño = warm surface current in equatorial eastern Pacific that occurs periodically around Christmastime
El Niño • Oceanic and atmospheric phenomenon in the Pacific Ocean • Occurs during December • 2 to 7 year cycle Sea Surface Temperature Atmospheric Winds Upwelling
Normal conditions in the Pacific Ocean
El Niño conditions (ENSO warm phase)
La Niña conditions (ENSO cool phase; opposite of El Niño)
Non El Niño 1997
Non El Niño upwelling El Niño thermocline
Surface and Deep-Sea Current Interactions Unifying concept: “Global Ocean Conveyor Belt” http: //seis. natsci. csulb. edu/rbehl/Conv. Belt. htm
Matter Transport and Surface Currents • Currents also involved with gas exchanges, especially O 2 and CO 2 • Nutrient exchanges important within surface waters (including outflow from continents) and deeper waters (upwelling and downwelling) • Pollution dispersal • Impact on fisheries and other resources
Global ocean circulation that is driven by differences in the density of the sea water which is controlled by temperature and salinity.
White sections represent warm surface currents. Purple sections represent deep cold currents
What effect does global warming play in thermohaline circulation? http: //www. youtube. com/v/MZbs. Mlr 9 WRI? version=3
1 CO 2 fossil fuel combustion 2 Atmospheric and ocean temp 3 4 Subtropical evaporation High latitude precipitation & runoff North Atlantic regional cooling Deep water formation & thermohaline circulation 6 Global climate interconnections Nordic seas salinity & deep convection 5 Potential feedback of increased tropical salinity
Conclusion 1. What is a convection cell? 2. Which direction do currents get deflected in the Southern Hemisphere? 3. What depth should the water be for an Ekman spiral to occur? 4. How are surface currents created? 5. What is a gyre? 6. How can an El Nino impact upwelling? 7. Coriolis Effect is strongest near the _____?
- Single circulation and double circulation
- Single circulation and double circulation
- Types of alveoli
- What is deep current
- Why why why why
- Slowing atlantic ocean circulation
- Citlalli dominguez
- Coriolis effect vocabulary
- Surface current definition
- Convection current definition
- What causes wind to blow brainpop
- Midnight zone
- Ocean currents vocabulary
- Ocean currents
- Ocean currents project
- What causes convection currents
- What is the primary driving force of surface-ocean currents
- Rubber ducks ocean currents activity
- Ocean currents gulf of mexico
- Gyre
- What are ocean currents
- Ocean currents map
- What are ocean currents
- Factors affecting their climate
- Ocean currents
- Cold peruvian current
- Symport
- Primary vs secondary active transport
- Now answer the following questions
- Passive transport vs active transport venn diagram
- Endocytosis vs exocytosis
- Primary active transport vs secondary active transport
- Bioflix activity membrane transport active transport
- What is passive transport
- Bioflix membrane transport
- Dont ask
- Example of a news story