Which term refers to the rising of colder deeper water to the ocean surface?
UPWELLING. The movement of deep, cold, and nutrient-rich water to the surface. cold current. ocean water from the poles that travel towards the equator. Also known as deep current.
What causes the upwelling of deeper cold waters in the equatorial zone of the oceans?
This is known as the Coriolis effect and is largely responsible for upwelling in coastal regions. The Coriolis effect also causes upwelling in the open ocean near the Equator. Trade winds at the Equator blow surface water both north and south, allowing upwelling of deeper water.
What is beach drift quizlet?
The movement of the sand is called beach drift and the movement of the water generates the longshore current. Large quantities of sand move along beaches and just offshore due to the action of longshore currents and longshore drift.
Where does deep upwelling usually occur?
Near trenches. Under what conditions does coastal upwelling commonly occur? Only where biotic productivity is high enough to sustain it. Only on the eastern coasts of continents.
What is upwelling and downwelling?
Downwelling is where surface water is forced downwards, where it may deliver oxygen to deeper water. Downwelling leads to reduced productivity, as it extends the depth of the nutrient-limited layer. Upwelling occurs where surface currents are diverging, or moving away from each other.
What do you mean by thermocline?
A thermocline is the transition layer between the warmer mixed water at the surface and the cooler deep water below. It is relatively easy to tell when you have reached the thermocline in a body of water because there is a sudden change in temperature.
What is equatorial upwelling?
The rising of water along the equator from about 200 m to the surface. It occurs in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans where the Southern Hemisphere trade winds reach into the Northern Hemisphere, giving uniform wind direction on either side of the equator.
What is the difference between longshore drift and longshore current?
The main difference between longshore current and longshore drift is that longshore currents are the ocean waves that travel parallel to the beach whereas longshore drift is the transportation of sediments along a coast, parallel to the shoreline.
What causes the longshore drift?
Longshore currents develop when waves approach a beach at an angle (Figure 12.37). Longshore currents cause sediment transport called longshore drift. Longshore drift is the movement of sediments along a coast by waves that approach at an angle to the shore but then the swash recedes directly away from it.
What is upwelling surface currents?
Currents Tutorial Winds blowing across the ocean surface often push water away from an area. When this occurs, water rises up from beneath the surface to replace the diverging surface water. This process is known as upwelling.
What is a thermocline layer?
A thermocline is the transition layer between warmer mixed water at the ocean's surface and cooler deep water below.
What upwelling means?
Upwelling is a process in which deep, cold water rises toward the surface. This graphic shows how displaced surface waters are replaced by cold, nutrient-rich water that “wells up” from below.
What is the difference between longshore drift and beach drift?
Longshore drift, also known as beach drift, is the movement of sand and sediment down the length of a beach. It is caused by the angle of waves crashing onto the shore as well as the shape of the land and direction of the longshore current.
What is beach drift and longshore current?
The movement of sand along the shoreline is known as beach drift. The thicker blue arrow represents the waves approaching the shoreline at an angle. The narrower blue arrows show the current that develops as a result of the waves hitting the coastline at an angle. The current is called longshore current.
What is another name for longshore drift?
Longshore drift is simply the sediment moved by the longshore current. This current and sediment movement occur within the surf zone. The process is also known as littoral drift.
What is meant by longshore currents?
When a wave reaches a beach or coastline, it releases a burst of energy that generates a current, which runs parallel to the shoreline. This type of current is called a “longshore current.”
What is thermocline and halocline?
A halocline is most commonly confused with a thermocline – a thermocline is an area within a body of water that marks a drastic change in temperature. A halocline can coincide with a thermocline and form a pycnocline. Haloclines are common in water-filled limestone caves near the ocean.
What is meant by thermocline halocline and pycnocline?
The pycnocline encompasses both the halocline (salinity gradients) and the thermocline (temperature gradients)refers to the rapid change in density with depth. Because density is a function of temperature and salinity, the pycnocline is a function of the thermocline and halocline.
What is the meaning of downwelling?
Downwelling is the process of accumulation and sinking of higher density material beneath lower density material, such as cold or saline water beneath warmer or fresher water or cold air beneath warm air. It is the sinking limb of a convection cell.
What’s the difference between longshore current and longshore drift?
Longshore currents develop when waves approach a beach at an angle (Figure 12.37). Longshore currents cause sediment transport called longshore drift. Longshore drift is the movement of sediments along a coast by waves that approach at an angle to the shore but then the swash recedes directly away from it.
What is longshore drift process?
Waves that hit the beach at an angle carry sand and gravel up the beach face at an angle. When the water washes back the sediment. is carried straight back down the beach face. Individual particles are moved along the beach in a zig zag pattern. This is called longshore drift.
What is beach drift?
As wind-driven waves approach the shoreline at a slight angle, sediments are carried along the coast. Waves move sediments along the beach in a zigzag fashion (red arrows). The majority of sediment is transported in the surf zone. The movement of sand along the shoreline is known as beach drift.
What is a longshore drift meaning?
: a person who loads and unloads ships at a seaport. Synonyms Example Sentences Learn More About longshoreman.
What is the process of longshore drift?
Longshore drift from longshore current is a geological process that consists of the transportation of sediments (clay, silt, pebbles, sand, shingle) along a coast parallel to the shoreline, which is dependent on the angle incoming wave direction.
What is the halocline layer?
halocline, vertical zone in the oceanic water column in which salinity changes rapidly with depth, located below the well-mixed, uniformly saline surface water layer.
What is meant by halocline?
halocline, vertical zone in the oceanic water column in which salinity changes rapidly with depth, located below the well-mixed, uniformly saline surface water layer.
What is the longshore?
Longshore currents are generated when a "train" of waves reach the coastline and release bursts of energy. The speed at which waves approach the shore depends on sea floor and shoreline features and the depth of the water.
What is swash and backwash?
The terms swash and backwash collectively refer to the oscillatory motion of the shoreline due to the continuous arrival of waves. They also describe the associated thin lens of water behind the moving shoreline that periodically covers and uncovers the beach face.
What is spit in geography?
spit, in geology, narrow coastal land formation that is tied to the coast at one end. Spits frequently form where the coast abruptly changes direction and often occur across the mouths of estuaries; they may develop from each headland at harbour mouths.
What is a longshore drift in geography?
Waves that hit the beach at an angle carry sand and gravel up the beach face at an angle. When the water washes back the sediment. is carried straight back down the beach face. Individual particles are moved along the beach in a zig zag pattern. This is called longshore drift.