Ocean Chapter 9
Which current flows north to south along the Northeast coast of the US?
Labrador
A seasonal north wind blowing along the west coast of a landmass in the Northern Hemisphere produces ______.
Upwelling in summer
Currents are more intense on the ____ side of the North Pacific and Atlantic Oceans
Western
In the Northern Hemisphere, the water surface of the open ocean moves:
45 degrees to the right of the wind
The average movement of all water affected by the wind is ____ degrees to the ___ of the wind motion in the Southern Hemisphere.
90; left
The oceanographic equator is located at
About 5 degrees N
Which current flows south along the west coast of the US?
California
The current at the eastern boundary of the Sargasso Sea is the ____ current.
Canary
In the Southern Hemisphere, the speed of the wind-driven water ____ depth and moves the water to the _____ of the wind.
Decreases; left
The single most important source of deepwater to all of the world's ocean is
Down welling in the North Atlantic
Which of the following is NOT true about the influence of Ekman transport on surface currents?
Each subsequent layer of water moves more quickly the one above it
A surface convergence produces less dense water that remains at the surface.
False
If a pool of cold low-density surface water in the North Atlantic slows the formation of North Atlantic deep water, the Gulf Stream will increase.
False
Southern Hemisphere winds move water at the very surface of the ocean 90 degrees to the left of the direction of the wind
False
The Ekman spiral causes current speed to increase with depth.
False
The North Atlantic gyre rotates counterclockwise.
False
The equatorial counter current:
Lies between the North and South equatorial currents
A Doppler current meter shows an increase in sound frequency if the water flow is:
Moving toward the meter
The North Atlantic prevailing westerlies drive the:
North Atlantic and West wind drift
The Arctic ocean receives
North Atlantic water from the Norwegian current and North Pacific water through the Bering Strait (b and c are correct)
Prevailing _____ winds are needed to provide the net movement of surface water along the west coast of North America.
Northerly
Which current moves cold water to warm latitudes?
Peru
The North Atlantic current is produced
Prevailing westerlies
The South Equatorial current of the Pacific Ocean moves surface water from the ________ Hemisphere to the ________ Hemisphere.
Southern; Northern
Which of the following is not a wind-driven current?
The Gulf Stream
Currents in the northern Indian Ocean change direction seasonally
True
Currents in the northern Indian Ocean change direction seasonally.
True
Eddies are found at all depths of the ocean
True
Geostrophic flow occurs when the Coriolis deflection is balanced by an opposite gravitational flow.
True
Ocean currents are deflected to a greater degree by the Coriolis Effect than by wind systems.
True
Prevailing westerly winds cause easterly currents
True
The Indian Ocean gyre rotates counterclockwise.
True
The average salinity of North Atlantic surface water is higher than North Pacific surface water
True
Upwelling along the coast of Peru is very seasonal, due to the continually shifting wind patterns.
True
The Gulf Stream forms eddies, or rings, with cold water cores at the ___ edge of the Gulf Stream current.
Western
Wind-driven surface currents move at a speed that is ________ the average driving wind speed.
one one-hundredth
The speed of the Florida current is high because:
the channel through which it flows is narrow
A zone of surface divergence is an area of _______ and ________ biological productivity.
upwelling; high
