Oceanography Chapter 07

Using the T-S diagram shown above, if a water mass has a density of 1.0280 g/cm3 and a salinity of 35.3 ppt, what is its temperature?

5 degrees celcius

What percentage of an icebergs mass is below the waterline?

90%

Western intensification causes:

All the above effects are the result of western intensification.

Which of the following methods are used to measure ocean surface currents directly?

Anchored buoys

Peru's residents are familiar with ENSO as it brings a warm current that reduces populations of which animal?

Anchovies

Which of the following currents contributes to the South Western United States being arid?

California Current

Which of the following is true for downwelling?

Carries dissolved oxygen to the deep sea floor

Water with which of the following characteristics would be the densest?

Cold water with high salinity would be the densest.

Which conditions in the ocean promote high productivity?

Cold water; rich nutrients

Which method would be most appropriate for directly measuring the flow rate of the Gulf Stream?

Drift bottles

The area in the enclosed rectangle in the false-color map of sea surface temperatures is an example of which of the following features?

Eddies

The world's two main iceberg-producing regions are ________.

Greenland and Antarctica

Which of the following currents contributes to the South Eastern United States being humid?

Gulf Stream

Of the following conditions, which is/are related to strong El Niño events?

Increased abundance of hurricanes in the eastern Pacific Ocean Increase in sea-surface temperatures and destruction of coral reefs in the eastern Pacific Ocean Higher sea levels in the eastern Pacific Ocean associated with warmer water

What is the Walker Circulation Cell?

It is the path that air takes as it moves from high to low pressure, and back to high pressure, in the South Pacific under normal conditions.

Which swift-flowing surface current in a major subtropical gyre transports a large volume of warm water from the equator toward the mid-latitudes?

Kuroshio Current

Which of the following water masses has the highest average salinity?

Mediterranean Intermediate Water

The North Atlantic Current is an example of which of the following types of currents?

Northern Boundary Current

Of the following gyres, which one(s) flow in a counterclockwise direction?

Northern Hemisphere Subpolar Gyres South Atlantic Subtropical Gyre South Pacific Subtropical Gyre Indian Ocean Subtropical Gyre

Which of the following is a direct method for measuring surface currents?

Propellor flow meter

The West Wind Drift is an example of which of the following types of currents?

Southern Boundary Current

The observation of a hill of water within all subtropical gyres is an example of which of the following?

Subtropical convergence

On a west coast in the Northern Hemisphere, what happens to surface waters when winds blow from the north?

Surface waters move offshore. Downwelling occurs. Surface waters move southward, causing a strong coastal current.

On a west coast in the Northern Hemisphere, what happens to surface waters when winds blow from the south?

Surface waters move onshore. Upwelling occurs. Downwelling occurs.

What would you expect weather to be like on the eastern coast of Australia if the western coast of South America were experiencing unusually warm, wet weather?

The eastern coast of Australia would be experiencing unusually dry weather.

The thickness of sea ice is limited primarily by __________.

The insulating nature of ice itself

In a severe warm phase of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), fisheries' productivity on the west coasts of the Americas is dramatically reduced. Which stage of ENSO would come just before the fisheries' collapse?

The thermocline deepens in eastern boundary currents of the Pacific Ocean subtropical gyres.

Which of the following is true of surface water circulation near Antarctica?

Two circumpolar currents dominate it, one current that moves water to the east and one current that moves water to the west.

The Agulhas Current is an example of which of the following types of currents?

Western boundary current

Of the following locations, where would upwelling be expected to occur?

Where there is a sharp bend in a coastline Where seamounts or tablemounts are present In areas of diverging surface currents

In the figure above, if this is a western-facing coast of the Southern Hemisphere, which wind pattern would cause coastal upwelling?

Wind C

In the figure above, if this is a western-facing coast of the Northern Hemisphere, which wind pattern would cause coastal downwelling?

Wind D

Why does upwelling occur along the west coast of South America under normal conditions?

Winds moving westward in the South Pacific drive ocean currents toward the west; deep water rises to replace water driven westward.

The thermocline is _________________.

a steep temperature gradient in the ocean that separates deeper cold water from warmer upper water

Surface ocean currents ___.

are driven by winds form large rotating gyres in the major ocean basinsare influenced by Coriolis effect

Warm ocean currents ___.

are warmer than the surrounding water

Downwelling can result from __________.

converging surface currents

Deep ocean currents are driven primarily by ________ .

density differences

Equatorial currents that are part of the subtropical gyres flow ___. Equatorial counter currents between the gyres flow ___ .

east to west; west to east

Which direction do ocean currents in the South Pacific move under El Niño conditions?

eastward

During winter months, monsoon winds over the Indian Ocean ________.

flow from land to sea and are wet

Cool ocean currents ___.

generally flow from high latitudes towards the equator

Deep-water currents move ________ volumes of water and are much ________ than surface currents.

larger; slower

Of the following methods, which are indirect methods for measuring currents?

na.

Ocean surface currents transfer about ________ of the total amount of heat from the tropics to the poles.

one-third

The subtropical gyres ___.

play a large role in climate

Records indicate that the ocean is warming faster in the Arctic polar regions than elsewhere. If that continues, a possible consequence could be __________.

slowing of deep-ocean circulation, resulting in lower oxygen levels in deep water

The El Niño Southern Oscillation can best be described as:

the relationship between sea surface temperature and changing atmospheric pressure.

The Ekman spiral is caused by:

the wind and the Coriolis effect.

Equatorial currents are driven by the:

trade winds.

Under which conditions are droughts and wildfires common in Australia?

under El Nino conditions

What depth does Argo floats collect data?

upper 2,000 meters

Surface waters are pushed away from land and replaced by nutrient-rich bottom water through:

upwelling

Diverging surface waters are areas of ________ and ________ productivity.

upwelling; high

Surface ocean currents are driven primarily by ________ and modified by ________.

wind; the Coriolis effect and land

In locations where North Atlantic Deep Water, Antarctic Bottom Water, and Antarctic Intermediate Water are all found, how would they be arranged vertically in the water column?

Antarctic Bottom Water would be on the bottom, North Atlantic Deep Water would be in the middle, and Antarctic Intermediate Water would be on the top.

Which of the following is the only current that completely circumscribes Earth?

Antarctic Circumpolar

The deepest and densest water mass in the world ocean is formed in the __________________.

Arctic Ocean

Which type of current flow moves in a circular path around a subtropical convergence, reflecting Ekman transport, gravity, and the Coriolis effect?

geostrophic circulation

Why does the west coast of South Africa have high biological productivity?

lots of coastal upwelling lots of coastal downwelling low concentrations of phytoplankton

What is the overall effect of the stronger than normal trade winds typical of La Niña conditions?

lowering of the South Pacific ocean temperature from normal conditions

Deep ocean currents ___.

result from changes in water density (due to temperature and salt content)

What is the Southern Oscillation?

the swapping of high and low pressure zones in the South Pacific under El Niño conditions