The two major deep-water masses are the Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) and the North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW). The AABW forms on the surface of the Weddell Sea near the Antarctic coast, South of South America. The NADW forms in the Greenland-Iceland-Norwegian Seas in the North Atlantic Ocean. (Gornitz 944; Garrison 254)
Surface ocean currents are largely caused by wind movements. The surface currents can be measured by several methods, two of which, namely the Eulerian method and the Lagrangian method are discussed as follows:
The Eulerian method is also called the flow method. In this method, the water flow past a fixed object is used to measure currents. Eulerian current meters are mounted on buoys attached to cables that are anchored at the bottom of the sea. The direction and speed of drift of the surface currents are then measured, and data is stored on a computer chip.
The Lagrangian method, also known as the float method, uses a free-floating object to measure the surface currents. In this method, floats are set loose on the surface to move along with the surface currents, and are then tracked acoustically or by GPS satellites. (Pinet 197; Garrison 258)
The two differences between upwelling and downwelling, both of which are often caused near coastlines due to vertical circulation of water triggered by wind, can be explained based on their origin as well as their function in the marine ecosystem.
In case of upwelling, deep water is brought to the surface of the ocean. This occurs when the surface water moves away from the shore due to Ekman transport when wind blows parallel to the coast. Thus, surface water is replaced with water from below. In contrast to upwelling, downwelling is the reverse process in wh...
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...reely moving objects in:
(a) Northern hemisphere
Freely moving objects moving northward or southward in the Northern Hemisphere will appear to curve towards the right side.
(b) Southern hemisphere
Freely moving objects moving northward or southward in the Southern Hemisphere will appear to curve towards the left side. (Kershaw 39)
Works Cited
Garrison, Tom. Oceanography: An Invitation to Marine Science. California: Cengage Learning, 2009.
Gornitz, Vivien. Encyclopedia of paleoclimatology and ancient environments. The Netherlands: Springer, 2009.
Kershaw, Steve. Oceanography: an earth science perspective. Cheltenham: Stanley Thornes, 2000.
Montereyinstitute.org. ‘Currents and Marine Life’. Web. 28 Oct. 2011. .
Pinet, Paul R. Invitation to Oceanography. Ontario: Jones & Bartlett Learning, 2008.
coast (as shown in pictures 1 & 2). The area of sea is subject to the
Subunits-Tides, Waves, Currents, Sea Level and Ice Cap Variations, Environmental and Geologic Implications, systems interactions, Economic and Public Policy issues
...ld Ocean. They are somewhat divided by the continents into the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian and Arctic. The World Ocean is 361 million km² in area, the volume is 1370 million km³, and its average depth is 3790 m.
Burns, M. (2011, July 12). Left vs.Right: What Your Brian Hemispheres are really Up To.
The Sun’s radiation heats the upper atmosphere, sending the energy toward the earth’s surface and finally mixes with the planet’s counter-rotational currents, creating jetstream flows. The winds flow over the ocean’s surface creating friction that spawns chops, pushing up the seas forming perfect bands of open ocean swell. Pushed on by gravitational forces, the swells speed away from the winds that they came from, moving across the deeps until they feel the drag of the shallows near the coast. As the swells rise up out of themselves, they peak, curling into the liquid dreams that we surfers ride (Kampton 4).
the time did not expect: it moved horizontally, the southwestern side slipping to the northwest,
Primary coasts are divided into two categories: submergent and emergent coasts. Submergent coastlines result from a general sea-level rise and crustal subsidence. Most of the eastern United States has submergent coastlines. One example is the Chesapeake Bay. Emergent coastlines result from the land being lifted, either by tectonic activity or rebound from the weight of heavy glaciers, which exposes the former sea bottom bit by bit forming continuously new shoreline.
I decided to focus this Mathematical Exploration on the math behind oceanic tides. I began by looking at the generic possibilities set out by my teacher. Among them was the idea of math being applied to water. In my initial search I found nothing that seemed interesting to me, however, I wanted to stick to the broad topic of water. After continued search I decided to focus on a subject important to me the ocean, specifically oceanic tides. Every year my family takes a trip to California for a week at the beach and since I was a little kid I was perplexed that the water would come up the beach at night and recede during the day. As I grew older and I learned this movement was called the tide and was caused by the moon and the sun’s gravity affecting the ocean. Thus I decided to take the exploration as a chance to further my knowledge of this subject and tides became my subject for this.
the left of a pair of crystals that are a mirror image of each other.
Ocean currents are horizontal or vertical movement of both surface and deep water throughout the world’s oceans (Briney, n.d.). The primary generating forces are wind and differences in water density caused by variations in temperature and salinity. Currents generated by these forces are modified by factors such as the depth of the water, ocean floor topography and deflection by the rotation of the Earth. Horizontal currents are wind driven, fast moving and carries small amount of water; while, vertical currents are slow moving, density driven and carries large bodies of water. In this paper I will describe horizontal and vertical currents, their importance and some of the tools used to measure ocean currents.
Roach, John. Global Warming May Alter Atlantic Currents. 27 June 2005. National Geographic News. 24 Jan 2012 http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/pf/72476778.html
All oceans contain salt water and other minerals. The Pacific Ocean has the largest body of water in it. It spreads nearly halfway around the world. The Pacific Ocean is also the deepest ocean out of all four oceans. The Atlantic contains the second largest body of water. Next is the Indian Ocean, which is on the borderline of being a big ocean and a small ocean. Last is the Arctic Ocean, which by all means is the smallest ocean of them all, and the shallowest.
The coriolis effect is caused by the rotation of the earth on its axis. It has major effect on weather throughout the U.S. and it also affects ocean currents. It also affects the way storms rotate depending on the location of the storms is the direction it’ll spin. In the Northern hemisphere storms spin counterclockwise and in the Southern hemisphere it rotates clockwise.