What is surface current in geography?
Surface Currents involve large masses of water moving horizontally on the surface. • The transfer of wind energy to water is not very efficient. (only about 2% energy transfer of “friction” between water and air).
What are surface currents called?
Gyres. Ocean surface currents tend to form ring-like circulation systems called gyres. A gyre is a circular ocean current formed by a combination of the prevailing winds, the rotation of the Earth, and landmasses.
What does surface current mean in earth science?
Surface currents are currents that are located in the upper 1,300 feet of the ocean, as opposed to deep in the ocean. Currents are simply how water moves from one place to another, but they can be very strong and forceful. Surface currents are affects by gravity, wind, the Coriolis Effect, and continental deflection.
What is an example of a surface current?
Two examples are the California Current (Cal) in the Pacific ocean basin and the Canary Current (Can) in the Atlantic ocean basin. The North Equatorial Current (NE) and the South Equatorial Current (SE) flow in the same direction. The SE turns south and behaves the opposite of the gyres in the Northern Hemisphere.
What is the difference between a surface current and a subsurface current?
Surface current: is rich in oxygen from contact with the atmosphere and from oxygen-producing photosynthetic organisms. Subsurface current: are harder to detect, so we don't know as much about them. What do oceanographers call global deep-water circulation?
What is surface current in antenna?
In metallic antennas, the surface current is an actual electric current that is induced by an applied electromagnetic field. The electric field pushes charges around. Pretty much any simulation package that handles metals will be able to visualize the surface current for you.
What causes surface current?
Surface currents in the ocean are driven by global wind systems that are fueled by energy from the Sun. Patterns of surface currents are determined by wind direction, Coriolis forces from the Earth's rotation, and the position of landforms that interact with the currents.
What are the two types of surface currents?
Two types of ocean circulation
- Equatorial currents. At the Equator the currents are for the most part directed toward the west, the North Equatorial Current in the Northern Hemisphere and the South Equatorial Current in the Southern Hemisphere. …
- The subtropical gyres. …
- The subpolar gyres.
What is a surface current quizlet?
surface currents. ocean currents that occur at or near the surface of the ocean, caused by wind.
What is a surface current and what causes them?
Surface currents in the ocean are driven by global wind systems that are fueled by energy from the Sun. Patterns of surface currents are determined by wind direction, Coriolis forces from the Earth's rotation, and the position of landforms that interact with the currents.
Where are surface currents located?
Surface currents are driven by global wind systems that are fueled by energy from the sun. These currents bring heat from the tropics to the polar regions; the Gulf Stream, for instance, brings warm water along the eastern coast of the US up to Northern Europe.
What is the difference between a surface current and a density current?
Deep ocean currents known as density currents are different from surface currents in that the driving force is gravity and not the winds. Density currents are global (not separated by hemispheres). Surface currents can travel from 500 – 2000 years before surfacing in a process knowi as upwelling.
What is surface current density?
wikipedia showed the definition of 'current density' when i searched 'surface current density' —It is defined as a vector whose magnitude is the electric current per cross-sectional area at a given point in space….
What is the difference between surface and deep currents?
Deep currents are driven by temperature and water density/salinity. Of course, deep currents impact surface currents, which carry warm water to the poles. Surface currents are also driven by global wind systems fueled by energy from the sun. Factors like wind direction and the Coriolis effect play a role.
Where are surface currents found?
Surface currents are driven by global wind systems that are fueled by energy from the sun. These currents bring heat from the tropics to the polar regions; the Gulf Stream, for instance, brings warm water along the eastern coast of the US up to Northern Europe.
What is the cause of surface currents?
Surface currents in the ocean are driven by global wind systems that are fueled by energy from the Sun. Patterns of surface currents are determined by wind direction, Coriolis forces from the Earth's rotation, and the position of landforms that interact with the currents.
How do surface currents affect climate?
Ocean currents act much like a conveyer belt, transporting warm water and precipitation from the equator toward the poles and cold water from the poles back to the tropics. Thus, currents regulate global climate, helping to counteract the uneven distribution of solar radiation reaching Earth's surface.
What is ocean surface current?
Surface currents Large-scale surface ocean currents are driven by global wind systems that are fueled by energy from the sun. These currents transfer heat from the tropics to the polar regions, influencing local and global climate.
Why are surface currents important?
These surface currents play an important role in moderating climate by transferring heat from the equator towards the poles.
How do you calculate surface current?
1:4212:30Surface and volume current – YouTubeYouTube
How do surface currents move?
Surface currents are powered by the sun and driven by the wind. The sun drives the global wind systems on Earth. When this wind blows over the surface of the ocean, it causes waves to form and the water at the surface to move. The force of the wind pushing on the water results in what are known as surface currents.
What causes a surface current?
Surface currents in the ocean are driven by global wind systems that are fueled by energy from the Sun. Patterns of surface currents are determined by wind direction, Coriolis forces from the Earth's rotation, and the position of landforms that interact with the currents.
What do El Nino mean?
El Niño means Little Boy, or Christ Child in Spanish. South American fishermen first noticed periods of unusually warm water in the Pacific Ocean in the 1600s. The full name they used was El Niño de Navidad, because El Niño typically peaks around December. El Niño can affect our weather significantly.
How are surface currents and deep currents different?
Deep ocean currents are density-driven and differ from surface currents in scale, speed, and energy. Water density is affected by the temperature, salinity (saltiness), and depth of the water. The colder and saltier the ocean water, the denser it is.
What are characteristics of surface currents?
Surface ocean currents form large circular patterns called gyres. Gyres flow clockwise in Northern Hemisphere oceans and counterclockwise in Southern Hemisphere oceans because of the Coriolis Effect. creating surface ocean currents. Near the Earth's poles, gyres tend to flow in the opposite direction.
What is surface current distribution?
Surface Current Distribution In some cases, current may be distributed over a surface. For example, the radio-frequency current on a wire of radius a made from a metal with sufficiently high conductivity can be modeled as a uniform surface current existing on the wire surface.
What is El Niño vs La Niña?
El Niño refers to the above-average sea-surface temperatures that periodically develop across the east-central equatorial Pacific. It represents the warm phase of the ENSO cycle. La Niña refers to the periodic cooling of sea-surface temperatures across the east-central equatorial Pacific.
What is the difference between El Niño and La Nino?
El Niño events are associated with a warming of the central and eastern tropical Pacific, while La Niña events are the reverse, with a sustained cooling of these same areas. These changes in the Pacific Ocean and its overlying atmosphere occur in a cycle known as the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO).
What is surface wave in patch antenna?
It is a wave (whether mechanical or electromagnetic) that travels along a surface or an interface between two mediums that have different densities (for mechanical wave) or refraction indexes (for electromagnetic wave) and keeps being trapped between the two mediums.
Why El Niño occurs?
An El Niño condition occurs when surface water in the equatorial Pacific becomes warmer than average and east winds blow weaker than normal. The opposite condition is called La Niña. During this phase of ENSO, the water is cooler than normal and the east winds are stronger. El Niños typically occur every 3 to 5 years.