What is the driving force of surface currents quizlet?
Wind is the primary driving force of surface currents. The Coriolis effect deflects the currents to the right (Northern Hemisphere) or left (Southern Hemisphere) of their path of motion (the prevailing wind direction).
What are the 3 things that drive surface currents?
Surface currents are controlled by three factors: global winds, the Coriolis effect, and continental deflections. surface create surface currents in the ocean. Different winds cause currents to flow in different directions. objects from a straight path due to the Earth's rotation.
What drives ocean currents on the surface?
Winds, water density, and tides all drive ocean currents. Coastal and sea floor features influence their location, direction, and speed. Earth's rotation results in the Coriolis effect which also influences ocean currents.
What are the driving forces of deep and surface 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.
What primarily drives the surface ocean currents quizlet?
What primarily drives the surface ocean currents? Coriolis forces.
What are the two main driving forces of ocean currents?
Ocean currents are the continuous, predictable, directional movement of seawater driven by gravity, wind (Coriolis Effect), and water density. Ocean water moves in two directions: horizontally and vertically. Horizontal movements are referred to as currents, while vertical changes are called upwellings or downwellings.
Which factor drives surface ocean currents quizlet?
Wind direction, the spin of Earth, and differences in temperature contribute to currents. Currents occur at the surface of and deep within the ocean. The Coriolis effect contributes to the direction of current flow. Wind direction, the spin of Earth, and differences in temperature contribute to currents.
What forces cause surface currents and what forces cause thermohaline currents?
Surface wind-driven currents generate upwelling currents in conjunction with landforms, creating deepwater currents. Currents may also be caused by density differences in water masses due to temperature (thermo) and salinity (haline) variations via a process known as thermohaline circulation.
What causes ocean surface currents quizlet?
What causes surface currents to move? It is caused by wind action, Earth's spin, and the shape of the continents. Also, the speed, direction, and volume of water can be affected by the uneven heating of the atmosphere. The force of wind blowing over the top of the Earth.
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 are two major drivers of surface ocean current and deep ocean current?
There are two main types of ocean currents: currents driven mainly by wind and currents mainly driven by density differences.
What is the major force behind surface currents in the open ocean?
What makes ocean currents flow? Tides contribute to coastal currents that travel short distances. Major surface ocean currents in the open ocean, however, are set in motion by the wind, which drags on the surface of the water as it blows. The water starts flowing in the same direction as the wind.
What is the driving force of currents in the oceans and atmosphere quizlet?
What is the driving force of oceanic and atmospheric circulations? The sun is the driving force of oceanic and atmospheric circulations. It heat the earth unevenly causing convection currents in the air and ocean.
What is the driving force of currents in the oceans and atmosphere?
The sun is the driving force of oceanic and atmospheric circulations. It heat the earth unevenly causing convection currents in the air and ocean.
What is the driving force between wind and ocean currents?
The main drivers of ocean currents are as follows: 1. The Coriolis Force. The rotation of the earth causes two main inertial forces: the centrifugal force pointing straight up (which is mostly swamped out by gravity), and the Coriolis force which points perpendicular to an object's motion.
What is Surface current?
surface current. A current which does not extend more than 8 or 10 feet below the surface. Also, fresh water running over salt at the mouths of great rivers.
What three controls surface currents quizlet?
List the three factors that control surface currents: Global winds, continental deflection and temperature, and the Coriolis effect.
Whats a surface current?
(′sər·fəs ‚kə·rənt) (oceanography) Water movement which extends to depths of 3-10 feet (1-3 meters) below the surface in nearshore areas, and to about 33 feet (10 meters) in deep-ocean areas. Any current whose maximum velocity core is at or near the surface.
What are the two main drivers of global ocean circulation?
Ocean circulation is primarily the result of wind pushing on the surface of the water and density differences between water masses. Nutrients are also transported to and from near and offshore environments, and to various depths by ocean 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 are the two major driving forces of oceanic motion?
There are two major sources of energy for driving ocean currents: the sun (via wind) and density (via salt content and temperature).
How do winds cause surface currents?
Wind is the most important cause of surface currents. When strong, sustained winds blow across the sea, friction drags a thin layer of water into motion. The movement of the very topmost layer of the sea pulls on the water just beneath, which then in turn starts the layer under it moving.
What is a surface current quizlet?
surface currents. ocean currents that occur at or near the surface of the ocean, caused by wind.
How are surface ocean currents driven quizlet?
Surface currents in the ocean are primarily driven by the wind. a ring-like system of ocean currents rotating clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere caused by the Coriolis Effect.
What causes surface currents and deep currents quizlet?
Surface currents occur at the surface of the ocean and are caused by global winds; the Gulf Stream is an example. Deep currents occur deep in the ocean and are influenced by water density, salinity, and temperature.
What causes surface waves?
Wind-driven waves, or surface waves, are created by the friction between wind and surface water. As wind blows across the surface of the ocean or a lake, the continual disturbance creates a wave crest. These types of waves are found globally across the open ocean and along the coast.
What is the driving force of oceanic and atmospheric circulation?
Heat, a form of energy, helps drive ocean and atmospheric circulation. The ocean absorbs and stores more heat than the atmosphere. Both the atmosphere and ocean are moving; the atmosphere does this quickly, the ocean slowly.
What two main factors control the speed and direction of the major ocean surface currents?
What two main factors control the speed and direction of the major ocean surface currents? Prevailing winds and the Coriolis Effect.
What is a surface current?
(′sər·fəs ‚kə·rənt) (oceanography) Water movement which extends to depths of 3-10 feet (1-3 meters) below the surface in nearshore areas, and to about 33 feet (10 meters) in deep-ocean areas. Any current whose maximum velocity core is at or near the surface.
Which factor causes surface ocean currents quizlet?
Wind direction, the spin of Earth, and differences in temperature contribute to currents. Currents occur at the surface of and deep within the ocean. The Coriolis effect contributes to the direction of current flow. Wind direction, the spin of Earth, and differences in temperature contribute to currents.