Surface Currents
Surface currents are a result of:
All of the above
Which currents are potentially dangerous and carry large amounts of water offshore quickly?
Rip currents
The global wind belts and their directions in order from the Equator to the North Pole are:
Trade winds, east to west; Westerlies, west to east; Polar Easterlies, east to west
Major surface currents circle the oceans in _____ gyres.
5
Surface currents that develop clockwise rotation in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise rotation in the Southern Hemisphere are created by _____.
All of the above
The _____ Circumpolar Current is the only current that does not meet a continent.
Antartic
The Coriolis effect, a deflection of objects when they are seen in a reference frame that is moving, depends on _____.
Earth's rotation
Global weather is a key factor affecting surface currents.
FALSE
Local winds always blow in the same direction and contribute to the unequal heating of the Earth by the Sun.
FALSE
The Northern Hemisphere gyres rotate counterclockwise.
FALSE
The factors affecting surface currents change over time.
FALSE
The trade winds blow from west to east.
FALSE
How does a water molecule move that is stuck in a longshore current?
It goes into shore at an angle and comes away from shore perpendicular to the beach
Longshore currents move water and sediments _____ to the shore, in the direction of the prevailing local winds.
Parallel
When a surface ocean current traveling from east to west across the ocean runs into a continent, it will turn __________ in the Northern Hemisphere and __________ in the Southern Hemisphere.
Right, left
Polar easterlies blow from east to west between 50 degrees and 60 degrees north and south of the equator and the north and south pole.
TRUE
Surface currents are extremely important because they distribute heat around the planet by bringing warm water to cooler regions and vice versa.
TRUE
Surface currents are the predictable movements of ocean water along the surface.
TRUE
The Westerlies are prevailing winds which blow from west to east in the middle latitudes.
TRUE
Water deflects towards the right in the Northern Hemisphere due to the Coriolis effect.
TRUE
_____ ocean current flows continuously around the globe.
The Antarctic Circumpolar
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is
The center of the North Pacific Gyre where trash and pollutants accumulate
Surface currents do not depend on _____.
Weather
In which direction do the westerlies blow in the middle latitudes?
West to East
The currents in the North Pacific gyre that move east-west and west-east move with the global wind belts.
Yes
