Ocean Test
Which type of ocean water would be most dense?
58 degrees Fahrenheit salt water
Which current brings colder water from the poles to the west coast of the United States?
California
Certain ocean currents form when ocean water becomes denser and sinks. The following figure shows one of these ocean currents. Based on the illustration, which of the following statements describes the relationship between density and temperature?
Cold water is denser than warm water.
The Coriolis Effect is caused by?
Earth rotating on its axis.
Which current brings warmer water from the equator to the east coast of the United States?
Gulf Stream
Which of the following best describes the movement of heat energy in the global ocean?
Heat energy in warm surface currents is transported to areas near Earth's poles.
What consequence does the Coriolis effect have on moving ocean water currents?
Moving water is deflected to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere.
Which of the following terms is used to describe large circular ocean currents that are driven mostly by the wind?
Surface Currents
Cindi's teacher gives her a map of the world. On her map, Cindi draws lines with arrows to show some of the major surface currents in the oceans. Her map looks similar to the map below.What conclusion about Earth's surface currents could someone draw by looking at Cindi's map?
Surface currents in the Southern Hemisphere flow only in a counterclockwise direction.
What is the major factor that affects the deep ocean currents?
The changes of density in water
A blue ice cube with high salinity is added to a container of water that has low salinity. The ice cube soon begins to melt. Predict what will happen next.
The cold salt water in the ice cube will flow to the bottom of the container because cold salty water is more dense than the low-salinity water in the container.
Carlos and Chrissie look at the following map of the West Coast of the United States. An arrow on the map shows a surface current in the Pacific Ocean flowing toward California (the NORTHERN HEMISPHERE). What should Carlos and Chrissie predict will happen to the current as it gets closer to the coast?
The path of the current will curve downward and right.
What is the major factor that affects the surface water in the open ocean?
The wind
Which of the following statements are true about these loops?
They rotate clockwise in the northern hemisphere and counter clockwise in the southern hemisphere
Which of the following ocean circulation patterns brings cold, nutrient-rich water to the surface, supporting marine life in the area?
Upwelling
What role does heat play in the formation of deep convection currents?
When water loses heat, it becomes denser and sinks.
When a current comes into contact with a continent or landmass it does what?
changes direction.
Due to the Coriolis Effect, ocean gyres in the northern hemisphere will rotate...
clockwise
What process brings the deep cold ocean currents up to the surface?
convection currents
Due to the Coriolis Effect, water in the southern hemisphere curves
counter-clockwise
What are the two types of ocean currents?
deep and surface
Which type of current occurs when surface water on the ocean becomes denser than the water below it and sinks?
deep current
What causes deep currents to form in the oceans?
differences in water density
Warm-water currents begin near the _______ and carry ______ water to other parts of the ocean.
equator, warm
Warm water currents...
move water from the equator toward the poles
The amount of salt found in water is called?
salinity
The two variables that move DEEP ocean currents are ________ and ________
salinity, temperature
Earth's _____ causes ocean currents in the Northern Hemisphere to curve clockwise.
spinning on its axis
Wind-powered ocean current that moves water horizontally, parallel to Earth's surface, and moves only the upper few hundred meters of seawater.
surface current
What is the horizontal movement of ocean water that is caused by wind and the Coriolis Effect.
surface currents
If you traveled from the surface of the ocean to the bottom, you would find that:
the density of the water increases from less dense near the surface to more dense at the bottom.
The Global Ocean Conveyor belt is:
the world's system of ocean currents that distribute heat around the oceans
Surface waters sink in the North Atlantic because:
they get colder and their density increases
