Surface waters

Question 1

What is ENSO?

Answer 1

periods of climate conditions centered in tropical pacific oceans.

Question 2

What is the frequency of ENSO?

Answer 2

3-7 years

Question 3

How long does ENSO lasts?

Answer 3

lasts 1 year

Question 4

What does ENSO cause?

Answer 4

disruptions to normal atmosphere/ ocean interactions

Question 5

What is a typical system?

Answer 5

movement of water from East to West.
deep water upwells to replace it keeping oceans cool along coast of South America

Question 6

What is Southern Oscillation?

Answer 6

periodic reversal of low and high pressure areas in southern pacific

Question 7

What happens to surface pressure in Indonesia?

Answer 7

low pressure becomes high

Question 8

What happens to surface pressure in the pacific zone?

Answer 8

High pressure becomes low

Question 9

What is El Nino?

Answer 9

wind driven reversal in the ocean current resulting in warm water moving toward America

Question 10

What is El nina?

Answer 10

condition of colder than normal surface waters in the tropical pacific

Question 11

What are consequences of El Nino?

Answer 11

decreased intensities of hurricanes in the Atlantic because jet stream is diverted South

Question 12

What are global consequences of El Nino?

Answer 12

Northern USA has warmer winters
Dry areas of Peru and Ecuador have high rainfall
Indonesia/Austrailia/Phillipines have drought

Question 13

What is MEI

Answer 13

Multivariate ENSO Index

Question 14

How is MEI calculated?

Answer 14

from measurements of sea temperatures, level-pressure, and surface air temperatures to the Eastwest and North-south velocity of components of the trade winds and total amount of cloudiness

Question 15

Where do currents occur?

Answer 15

Surface ocean= top 100m=10%
Deep Ocean=below 100m=90%

Question 16

What is the driving force of currents?

Answer 16

Wind

Question 17

What happens during the Elkman Spiral?

Answer 17

water is deflected by coriolis effect
Earth rotates further out from under
water appears to be deflected to a greater degree than overlying air

Question 18

What is the Elkman Spiral?

Answer 18

Water is deflected to right in North hemisphere and left in Southern Hemisphere.

Question 19

Average water motion is 90% from wind direction

Question 20

How is the North Equatorial current formed?

Answer 20

Northeast trade winds push water toward the west.

Question 21

How is the North Pacific current formed

Answer 21

by westerlies moving east to west

Question 22

How is the California and Kuroshio Current formed?

Answer 22

water flows towards areas where water has been removed

Question 23

What currents make the Noth Pacifc Gyre?

Answer 23

North Equatorial Current, North Pacific Current, California,Kuroshio current

Question 24

What is the principle of the continuity of flow?

Answer 24

A fluid flows so the next flux of liquid in or out of a given volume within the fluid is 0

Question 25

What forms the Antarctic Circumpolar Current?

Answer 25

Strong Westerlies

Question 26

Where does the Antarctic Circumpolar Current flow?

Answer 26

completly around the globe without interuption

Question 27

What does the Antarctic Circumpolar current provide?

Answer 27

mechanism of sharing and mixing among oceans

Question 28

How are fronts formed?

Answer 28

by Ekman wind convergence which channels the current between them

Question 29

What fronts are part of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current?

Answer 29

-Subtropical front -Subantarctic front -Polar/Antarctic front

Question 30

How is the speed of wind compared to the speed of currents?

Answer 30

currents are 1/100 speed of wind

Question 32

How to measure volume of water transported by currents?

Answer 32

1SV=1 million cubic meters per second

Question 33

Geostrophic Flow?

Answer 33

horizontal flow of water occuring when there is a balance of coriolis and gravitational forces acting on water

Question 34

What is Western Intensification?

Answer 34

Increase in speed of geostrophic currents along the Western boundary of an Ocean Basin

Question 35

What are factors causing Western Intensification?

Answer 35

1. Eastward turning of the Earth 2. Increase of coriolis effect with latitude 3. Changing direction of tradewinds and westerlies 4. Friction between land masses and ocean water currents

Question 36

How do western currents compare to Eastern currents?

Answer 36

Western currents:Fast flowing, narrow Eastern Currents: Slow, wide

Question 37

What are examples of western currents?

Answer 37

Gulf Stream Kuroshio current

Question 38

What are examples of Eastern currents?

Answer 38

Canary current California current

Question 39

What are permanent wind driven zones?

Answer 39

5 major convergent zones 3 major divergence zones -related to ocean gyres and geostrophic currents -lower productivity in downwelling areas

Question 40

What are meanders?

Answer 40

Oscillations and waves along boundary of current

Question 41

What are eddies?

Answer 41

Pockets of water moving in a circular motion.

Question 42

What are mesoscale eddies?

Answer 42

10-500km in diameter and persist for day-month timescales

Question 43

What do eddies do?

Answer 43

Stir the ocean until they dissipate due to fluid friction, loosing chemical and thermal energyand energy of motion to turbulence

Question 44

How do eddies cause verdical transport in low pressure North hemisphere?

Answer 44

Elkman transport of water away from the center to upwelling and nutrients. (convergence, counterclockwise)

Question 45

How do eddies cause verdical transport in high pressure North hemisphere?

Answer 45

Elkman transport of water foward leads to downwelling (divergence, clockwise)

Question 46

What are Seasonal wind driven zones?

Answer 46

Seasonal changes in wind pattern affect Ekman transport

Question 47

winds blowing along coastlines can generate...

Answer 47

Ekman transport of water foward or away from the coast