What is the balance of forces in geostrophic flow?
A geostrophic current is an oceanic current in which the pressure gradient force is balanced by the Coriolis effect. The direction of geostrophic flow is parallel to the isobars, with the high pressure to the right of the flow in the Northern Hemisphere, and the high pressure to the left in the Southern Hemisphere.
What are the two opposing forces that create geostrophic flow around oceanic gyres?
The horizontal movement of surface water arising from a balance between the pressure gradient force and the Coriolis force is known as geostrophic flow.
Which of the following forces throws wind out of geostrophic balance?
The geostrophic wind results from a balance between the horizontal pressure gradient force and the Coriolis Effect.
Where can you find geostrophic balance?
The only place where geostrophic balance never holds is at the Equator where there is no Coriolis force. A key feature of geostrophic balance is that rather than flowing from high to low pressure, the fluid actually moves parallel to lines of equal pressure (isobars).
What causes geostrophic flow?
geostrophic motion, fluid flow in a direction parallel to lines of equal pressure (isobars) in a rotating system, such as the Earth. Such flow is produced by the balance of the Coriolis force (q.v.; caused by the Earth's rotation) and the pressure-gradient force.
What is Coriolis force and pressure gradient force?
There are only two forces acting: the pressure gradient force and the Coriolis force. The pressure gradient force acts towards low pressure perpendicular to the lines of constant height while the Coriolis force acts to the right and perpendicular to the wind direction.
Which of the following two factors cause geostrophic circulation within a gyre?
Which of the following two factors cause geostrophic circulation within a gyre? temperature and pressure.
Which two forces balance each other so that air molecules can remain in the atmosphere?
vertical pressure gradient force, derived from air pressure decreases with height from the surface aloft, equals opposing gravitational acceleration. Thus, the atmosphere is held within a balance between two opposing forces, one pulling the atmosphere away from the surface, the other toward the surface.
What is meant by geostrophic flow?
(¦jē·ō¦sträf·ik ′flō) (geophysics) A form of gradient flow where the Coriolis force exactly balances the horizontal pressure force.
How are geostrophic winds formed?
Geostrophic winds result from the interaction of the pressure gradient force and the Coriolis force. Above the friction layer, winds are free from interfering obstacles that slow wind speeds and reduce the Coriolis force. Pressure gradient forces increase wind acceleration.
What are geostrophic winds and how do they flow?
What the geostrophic wind includes is a balance between the PGF (Pressure Gradient Force) and the Coriolis force. This flow results in the wind staying parallel to height contours. The PGF is the force resulting in the pressure difference between higher and lower pressure.
How do geostrophic winds flow?
Geostrophic winds and currents flow counterclockwise around low-pressure zones and clockwise around high-pressure zones in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere, they flow clockwise around low-pressure zones and counterclockwise around high-pressure zones.
Which of the following two factors cause geostrophic circulation within a gyre quizlet?
Which of the following two factors cause geostrophic circulation within a gyre? gravity and the Coriolis effect. Western intensification causes: a large volume of water to flow within western boundary currents.
What are the two main forces that make air flow on Earth?
Forces That Create or Act Upon the Wind
- Gravitational force- keeps the molecules in the atmosphere from moving into space. …
- Vertical pressure gradient force- closely balances gravity so that all the molecules in the atmosphere are not forced into the lowest meter above the ground.
What is geostrophic balance quizlet?
What is geostrophic balance? The geostrophic balance is the balance found where the air is not accelerating. In this balance, the horizontal pressure gradient force is pointed toward low pressure (it always is) and the Coriolis force is pointed in the opposite direction. The resultant wind is the geostrophic wind.
What causes geostrophic winds?
Geostrophic winds result from the interaction of the pressure gradient force and the Coriolis force. Above the friction layer, winds are free from interfering obstacles that slow wind speeds and reduce the Coriolis force. Pressure gradient forces increase wind acceleration.
How do geostrophic winds form?
Geostrophic winds result from the interaction of the pressure gradient force and the Coriolis force. Above the friction layer, winds are free from interfering obstacles that slow wind speeds and reduce the Coriolis force. Pressure gradient forces increase wind acceleration.
What is wind balance?
Balanced wind in the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) occurs when there is a balance between the pressure gradient force, Coriolis force, and the frictional drag force.
Which of the following two factors cause Geostrophic circulation within a gyre?
Which of the following two factors cause geostrophic circulation within a gyre? temperature and pressure.
What is the generating force that starts surface currents quizlet?
What is the generating force that starts surface currents? Why do subtropical gyres rotate in one direction and subpolar gyres rotate in the opposite direction? Subtropical gyres are generated by the westerlies and trade winds, and subpolar gyres are generated by the polar easterlies.
What two forces are in balance when geostrophic balance is achieved quizlet?
What forces are in geostrophic balance? the forces in balance are the pressure gradient force and the Coriolis force.
What causes the pressure gradient force?
The force actually responsible for causing the movement of air though is the pressure gradient force. Differences in air pressure and the pressure gradient force are caused by the unequal heating of the Earth's surface when incoming solar radiation concentrates at the equator.
What are the two main categories of ocean currents quizlet?
What causes the two major types of ocean currents? Surface currents; are wind-driven movements of water at or near the ocean's surface, and thermohaline currents; are the slow deep density-driven currents that affect the vast bulk of seawater beneath the pycnocline.
What is the generating force for 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.
Which of the following forces causes the wind to deflect toward the right of its initial path in the northern hemisphere?
Because the Earth rotates on its axis, circulating air is deflected toward the right in the Northern Hemisphere and toward the left in the Southern Hemisphere. This deflection is called the Coriolis effect.
What are the two types of ocean currents?
There are two main types of ocean currents: surface currents and deep ocean currents. Surface currents are driven by global wind systems that are fueled by energy from the sun.
What causes the two major types of ocean currents quizlet?
What causes the two major types of ocean currents? Surface currents; are wind-driven movements of water at or near the ocean's surface, and thermohaline currents; are the slow deep density-driven currents that affect the vast bulk of seawater beneath the pycnocline.
What are the two primary forces behind ocean 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.
What are the 2 types of ocean currents?
There are two main types of ocean currents: surface currents and deep ocean currents. Surface currents are driven by global wind systems that are fueled by energy from the sun.
What are the two main factors that influence ocean currents?
Oceanic currents are driven by three main factors:
- The rise and fall of the tides. Tides create a current in the oceans, which are strongest near the shore, and in bays and estuaries along the coast. …
- Wind. Winds drive currents that are at or near the ocean's surface. …
- Thermohaline circulation.
Feb 26, 2021