Ocean Currents
The continents act as _____________ to surface currents
Barriers
The temperature of the water near Antarctica is very cold (-2°) the waters salinity is high and it is the __________ and _______ ocean water in the world
Densest, coldest
The movement of polar waters is a result of differences in __________
Density
In the North Atlantic, the water is very cold and has a high salinity. This cold, salty water forms a deep current that moves southward under the northward flowing _________ _________
Gulf stream
Wind has _________ energy
Kinetic
The warm ___________ current, the pacific equivalent of the Gulf Stream, flows northward along the east coast Asia. This current then flows torward North America as the North Pacific drift
Kuroshio
South of Greenland, the Gulf Stream widens and slows until it becomes a vast, slow moving warm current known as the ___________ _____________ current
North Atlantic
The Gulf Stream, the North Atlantic current, the canary current, and north equatorial current form the ___________ ______________ ________
North Atlantic gyre
Gyre
a huge circle of moving ocean water found above and below the equator
Deep current
a streamlike movement of ocean water far below the surface
Coriolis effect
the curving of the path of a moving object from an otherwise straight path due to Earth's rotation
When a surface current flows against a continent, the current is ___________ and ____________
Deflected, divided
Surface current
A horizontal movement of ocean water that is caused by wind and that occurs at or near the ocean's surface
Current
A horizontal movement of water in a well defined pattern, such as a river or stream
Surface currents are controlled by 3 factors:
Air currents, earths rotation, location of continents
Energy is transferred from the ______ to the _________
Air, ocean
The dense, cold water sinks to the bottom and forms the _____________ ________ _______
Antarctic bottom water
In the most southernly regions of the oceans, constant westward winds produce the winds largest current, the ___________ _______________ current, aka the west wind drift
Antarctic circumpolar
It eventually flows southward along the ___________ coast as a cool current
California
No _____________ interrupt the movement of this current that completely circles Antarctica and crosses all 3 major oceans
Continents
The ____________ are another major influence on surface currents
Continents
___________ _____________ form as cold, dense water of the polar regions sinks and flows beneath the warmer ocean water
Deep currents
Wind belts and ocean currents follow a curved or circular pattern that is caused by __________ ____________
Earths rotation
Between is a weaker eastward flowing current called the ______________ __________________
Equatorial countercurrent
Warm ___________ _________ are located in the Atlantic, pacific, and Indian oceans
Equatorial currents
Near western ___________, the North Atlantic current splits
Europe
____________ __________ _________, such as trade winds or westerlies, are a major factor affecting the flow of ocean surface water
Global wind belts
The dense, high saline water of the Mediterranean Sea forms a deep current as it flows through the straight of _____________ into the Atlantic Ocean
Gribraltar
Water at ___________ surface begins to move
Oceans
The patterns of currents in the north ________ ha similar to the one in the north _________
Pacific, atlantic
Oceanographers identify ocean currents by studying the ______________ and __________ characteristics of ocean water
Physical, chemical
At the center of this gyre lies a vast area of calm, warm water called ____________ ______
Sargasso sea
Ocean current categories:
Surface currents, deep currents
___________ and _________ determines density
Temperature, salinity
Gulf Stream
The swift, deep, and warm Atlantic current that flows along the eastern coast of the United States torward the northeast
I'm both hemispheres ___________ _________ belts push currents westward across the tropical latitudes of all 3 major oceans
Trade wind
Each of these oceans has 2 warm water equatorial currents that move in a ___________ direction
Westward
What causes gyres to form?
Wind belts, coriolis effect
__________ _________ and the ________ ________ cause huge circles of moving water called gyres to form
Wind belts, coriolis effect
