Sea Level Changes Tides and Currents Sun Impacts

Sea Level Changes: Tides, and Currents

Sun Impacts Wind, Which Impacts Currents

Wind Currents Warm Air Rises, Cold Air Sinks

Three Types of Currents • Surface Currents – Controlled by: 1) Wind belts, 2) Earth rotation (Coriolis Effect) 3) Location of Continents • Turbidity Current – underwater landslide • Density Current – caused by Salinity

Coriolis Effect • Deflection of Wind (convection cells curve) Does this really occur because of Coriolis Effect?

Coriolis Effect Video • https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=s. ZH 05 t 5 BQo

Parts of a Wave • • Crest Trough Height (Amplitude= 1/2) – How Tall Period (Frequency) – How “smooshed”

Other Currents Terms • Drift – Weak Current • Gulf Stream – Warm Current • Swell – long rolling current

More Terms • Fetch – distance wind can blow across open water • Rogue Wave -2 Waves merge together

More Terms • Whitecap – the white part of a wave • Breaker – surf waves

Refraction – bending wave • Longshore Current -Parallel to shoreline (up-coast or down-coast)

El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) • • El Niño = Trade Winds Weaken Cold water becomes warm Impacts weather, fish, food webs, etc. http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=7 FVZrw 7 bk 1 w

More Terms • Undertow • Rip Current http: //www. ripcurrents. noaa. gov/inde x. shtml

Ocean is an energy agent

Coastal Climate vs. Inland Climate High Heat Capacity of water helps Coast to stay cool

Review Slide -Why does sea level change? • Plate tectonics • Global Warming (Glaciers Melting) • Tides

TIDES • Daily changes in sea levels • High Tide vs. Low Tide (Ebb) • Cause = Gravity between Sun and Moon on the Earth’s surface Moon/ Sun

Spring Tide vs. Neap Tide Spring =Has more impact

Tidal Record

Other Terms: • Tidal Bore

Red Tide • Algal Bloom - eutrophication • Can be toxic for fish and humans that eat fish – warning label for “shell fish”

Review Slide =Formation of a tsunami http: //isu. indstate. edu/jspeer/Earth&Sky/Earth. Ch 11. ppt

TSUNAMI - water wave generated by earthquake NY Times

Characteristics • Move at high speeds • Can travel enormous distances with little energy loss • Can cause damage thousands of miles from its origin • May be several hours between its creation and its impact on the coast

Review Slide -Role of Global Warming • Climate and Global Warming -surface temperatures on Earth are rising • Greenland ice sheet is melting

How does CO 2 affect temperature? Greenhouse Effect

Review Questions • What is the role of the sun on wind and currents? • What are the 3 types of currents? • Explain the Coriolis Effect • What are the 4 parts of a wave? • Explain 1 wave vocabulary term. • How do the tides work? • What are other ways sea level changes?