Marine Science- chp 9
Benjamin Franklin was the first person to recognize the extent of the ___ and to publish a navigational chart of it
Gulf Stream
El Nino results due to an interruption of flow of the __ Current(s) in the Pacific
Humboldt and Equatorial
The only ocean current that continues in an uninterrupted circle around the circumference of the Earth without encountering land is the:
West Wind Drift
List the circuits on the world's oceans
West Wind Drift, South Pacific gyre, Indian Ocean gyre
during an El Nino event a
strong equatorial countercurrent
The ultimate source of most of the energy for ocean currents is the
sun
Britain's weather is ___ than would be expected at the latitude because of the influence of surface currents
warmer and wetter
Generally the fastest and deepest ocean currents are the
western boundary currents
The Earth's rotation influences currents by an acceleration known as
Coriolis effect
List some El Nino effects
-an often catastrophic decrease in the commercial --fisheries of the affected countries -- an increase in ocean surface temperature in the eastern Pacific -- an increase in rainfall in west coastal countries or states of the American continents
As wind moves over the surface of the ocean, the water's direction is
45 degrees to the right
ENSO stands for
El Nino/ Southern Oscillation
Upwelling water is usually
cold and nutrient-laden
San Francisco's characteristic cold and foggy weather is caused by a:
cold eastern boundary current
The most dense water in ocean currents is the
coldest and saltiest
La Nina is a
cooling of the ocean water after El Nino
Water moving in the opposite direction from the surface current is called
friction depth
A system of four currents completing a flow circuit around the periphery of an ocean basin is collectively called a
gyre