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Ocean Currents

Ocean Currents. Palm Trees in Scotland!?. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rlXr-FckMA Palm trees are able to grow on the west coast of Scotland due to the effects of the Gulf Stream Current. Deep ocean characteristics. Conditions of the deep ocean: Cold Still Dark

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Ocean Currents

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  1. Ocean Currents

  2. Palm Trees in Scotland!? • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rlXr-FckMA • Palm trees are able to grow on the west coast of Scotland due to the effects of the Gulf Stream Current.

  3. Deep ocean characteristics • Conditions of the deep ocean: • Cold • Still • Dark • Essentially no productivity ( very little food) • Sparse life • Extremely high pressure • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZlAA1xtZ-A

  4. Thermohaline: • As opposed to wind-driven currents the thermohaline circulation is that part of the ocean circulation which is driven by density differences. • Sea water density depends on temperature and salinity, hence the name thermo-haline.

  5. Deep currents (Thermohaline Circulation) • Deep currents: • Form in subpolar regions at the surface • Are created when high density surface water sinks • Factors affecting density of surface water: • Temperature (most important factor) • Salinity • Deep currents are known as thermohaline circulation

  6. Temperature • Water temperature varies with depth. There are three layers: • Surface – warmest layer • Thermocline – the water temperature may drop from 20ºC to 5ºC  • Deep water – temperatures are close to the freezing point

  7. Temperature affects the density of ocean water. Cold water is more dense than warm water and tends to sink. • Temperature differences in water may cause vertical convection currents where warmer water is rising and colder water is sinking.

  8. Salinity of Water • Density currents can also be caused by differences in salinity (amount of salt). • Water with a high salinity is denser than water with a lower salinity. • What is happening at the poles?

  9. Pycnocline • A layer where the density gradient is greatest within a body of water. • An ocean current is generated by the forces such as breaking waves, terms of temperature and salinity differences, wind, Coriolis effect, and tides caused by the gravitational pull of the Moon and the Sun.

  10. Identification of deep currents • Deep currents are identified by measuring temperature (T) and salinity (S), from which density can be determined

  11. Atlantic Ocean subsurface water masses

  12. Conveyer-belt circulation

  13. Deep Ocean Current • Global Deep Circulation resembles a vast “conveyor belt” that carries surface water to the depths and back again. • Global deep circulation starts with the North Atlantic deep water north of Iceland. • The colder denser water sinks and flows south through the Atlantic and into deep Antarctic water. • The water mass warms up as it moves north into the Indian and Pacific ocean basins. • Eventually upwelling takes place and some of this water returns to the surface at the equator.

  14. http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/kits/currents/06conveyor2.htmlhttp://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/kits/currents/06conveyor2.html

  15. Upwelling • Nutrient rich water rises near the equator. • Nutrient rich water upward motion of water. This motion brings cold, nutrient rich water towards the surface

  16. Types of Upwelling • Coastal upwelling: Northern Hemisphere: caused by winds from the north blowing along the west coast of a continent.

  17. Downwelling • Coastal Downwelling: Areas of downwelling are often low in nutrients and therefore relatively low in biological productivity.

  18. Coastal upwelling and downwelling

  19. Current Questions • Compare and contrast the two types of currents. • Describe the three things that cause surface ocean currents? • What is a gyre? What are the five main gyres? • How do gyres effect sailors? Ocean debris? Migration of sea animals? Fishing industry? • What is the Coriollis effect? Explain why currents move in different direction in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. • Describe the process of upwelling and downwelling? • Describe the process and path of the Deep Ocean Conveyor Belt. • What is the cause of this circulation? • Explain how the melting ice caps can disrupt deep ocean circulation. • Compare the time to complete a surface current vs. a deep water current.

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