Oceanography: Geophysics Review
What angle is the Earth tilted at?
23 degrees
Where are westerlies located?
60º N and 60º S
What is the Tethys Sea?
A sea from the Pangaea period offering vast regions of shallow tropical water along its coasts. These coastal waters formed the environments in which many of the modern marine organisms evolved and spread. As Pangaea drifted apart, it was replaced by oceans.
Where are easterlies located?
At the equator
What are the names of the world's oceans?
Atlantic Ocean Pacific Ocean Indian Ocean Arctic Ocean Southern/Antarctic Ocean
What is the average energy budget equation vs the energy budget equation at a given latitude?
ENERGY BUDGET = IN - OUT ENERGY BUDGET (@ some latitude) = IN - OUT + FLOW
Ice sheets in the northern hemisphere have advanced and retreated roughly every how many years?
Every 100,000 years
What two important things does sunlight provide?
Heat, which is absorbed by water. Light, which illuminates.
How did the Antarctic form?
It drifted away from the other continents and surrounded by prevailing winds that cut it off from warmer climates.
What is the Earth's "energy budget"?
It measures the amount of solar energy the earth absorbs, minus the amount of energy the earth reflects or radiates back into space. ENERGY BUDGET = IN - OUT
What is an energy surplus, and what regions experience it?
More energy in than out. Tropical climates experience them.
What is an energy deficit, and what regions experience it?
More energy out than in. Polar and mild climates experience them.
Does the average temperature of the Earth typically change?
No, it is balanced.
What are low pressure regions?
Regions that experience rising air, for example, at the equator warm air rises. Here there are MORE CLOUDS.
What are high pressure regions?
Regions which experience sinking air, for example, in polar regions where the cold dense polar air sinks. Here, there are FEWER CLOUDS.
What does Earth's tilt create?
Seasons, because of changes in length of days and sunlight intensity at different latitudes.
What is Earth's primary source of energy?
The sun
How does the energy on Earth stay balanced even though some regions have energy surpluses and deficits? How?
Winds and ocean currents cause energy to flow from tropical (surplus) areas to polar (deficit) ones.
What are prevailing winds?
Winds that blow in the same direction over specific latitudes. Winds coming from the east are EASTERLIES, winds coming from the west are WESTERLIES.
Rifting causes continents to...
drift apart
Collisions cause continents to...
stick together