There are two causes of ocean currents: wind and convection. The more important of the two is convection. The act of convection in a fluid is the tendency of a heated part of the fluid to rise up due to the fact the it is less dense and it is replaced by cooler fluid which is then heated, rises up, and again replaced by cooler fluid. There has been plenty of recent research on the topic of ocean currents and convection, some of which might change the way we view the ocean. In this paper I will explain exactly what convection is, I will explain how and why it makes such a drastic effect in our ocean, and I will discuss the latest research that has been done on ocean currents.
So, what exactly is convection? Think of it like this: there is a tank of water with one side heated and the other side cooled. You put red food coloring on the heated side of the tank, then as the water on the left starts to heat up you begin to see the food coloring rise, and move to the right, towards the cold side. The heated water rises because the particles move faster and faster during heating. The faster the particles move, the more volume it takes up which decreases the water’s density, and the hot water now rises and is replaced by cold water, which is then heated and the particles move faster and rise and get replaced by cold water, etc. It is an on-going cycle. It is exactly the same in the ocean except the only difference is that it is a much large tank. In the ocean, the biggest source of heat is from the earth’s mantle, right below the earth’s crust. Under the ocean, the earth’s crust (oceanic crust) is only about 3-5 miles thick.3 The mantle can reach about 870oc (1600oF) which is enough heat to be the driving force of convection in ...
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...ument." Untitled Document. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Jan. 2014.
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Rachel begins by stating that when tides or waves occur in the ocean they don’t just effect the surface but also the deepest levels of the water. How would you know for a fact that the wave currents run deeper than just the surface? Proof given by her illustrates
Garrison, Tom. "Chapter 12: Coasts." Oceanography: An Invitation to Marine Science. 7th ed. Cengage Learning, 2010. 319+. Print.
The questions what causes polar ice to melt, variation in temperature at same latitudes, climate change and others have led meteorologist, ocean scientist and other researchers to investigate currents. According to the oxforddictionaries.com, a current is a body of water or air moving in a definite direction, especially through a surrounding body of water or air in which there is less movement. Currents can be generated both on the ocean surface flowing horizontally and sub surface flowing vertically. However these currents are generated by different factors. Horizontal currents are generated by the wind blowing across the ocean surface while vertical currents are generated by the density differences in water masses caused by temperature and salinity variation. To understand the significance of these currents researchers used a number of oceanographic tools which incorporates different techniques to measure them. The Lagrangian measurement incorporates all drifter measurements, which was named after the mathematician Joseph Louis Lagrange while the Eulerian measurement incorporates measuring currents of a fluid at only a given point and was named after Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler (oceanservice.noaa.gov). Ocean currents are typically measured in Knots. According to NOAA ocean service education, Knot is defined as one nautical mile per hour and is used to measure speed (oceanservice.noaa.gov).
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).
Some studies have found “that atmospheric CO2 concentration is approximately 383 parts per million by volume (ppmv), a level not seen in at least 650,000 years, and it is projected to increase by 0.5% per year throughout the 21st century.” (Guinotte) “This is because…the ocean absorbs about a third of fossil fuel emissions, but this amount is likely to increase to 90% in the future.” (Bralower) As a result, “the chemistry of the world's oceans is changing at a rate not seen for 65 million years, with far-reaching implications for marine biodiversity and food security, according to a new United Nations study...” (Knight) “…This change is cause for serious concern [for] many marine organisms…, [because they] may not be able to adapt quickly enough to survive these changes.” (Guinotte)
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.
"Oceanic Research Group." Oceanic Research Group. Blue World, 7 Sept. 2013. Web. 30 Mar. 2014.
Around our planet today, the basic mechanisms of heat and high humidity distribution and model number of ocean circulation. The total circulation from salt - Net dense sea
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.
The currents at the surface of the ocean are split in to two categories, tidal currents and surface currents. Tidal currents occur around land masses and are influenced mainly by the gravitational pull of our sun and moon. They change rapidly but predictably and contribute to surface currents. Surface currents occur over different areas of earth’s ocean. Two main factors affecting the surface currents are wind and the Coriolis Effect. The Coriolis Effect explains how the rotation of the earth seems to cause a deflection of anything moving above the earth’s surface. It is this effect that causes winds and water in the northern hemisphere to appear to deflect to the right and in the southern hemisphere to deflect to the left. One of the major surface currents is the Gulf Stream. Water in around the Caribbean is warmed by the sun and then carried north and east along the coast North America. These sun warmed waters release their stored energy into the westerly winds and Northern Europe benefits by having a much milder winter than t...
With the energy costs increasing and the available resources depleting many people are looking towards other renewable, easily derived energy resources. With this searching many people have looked toward ocean energy. Ocean energy is an ideal resource meeting the requirements people set when looking for new sources. Although the technology is still being developed and evolved, with the technology known ocean energy has already shown to be more prospective than other energy sources already in use.
Scientists appear to have become aware of the issue of rising sea levels in the mid to late 1980s. An article published in Science News in 1987 predicted that “global warming… will cause… the world's oceans to expand, raising the average sea level by 4 to 8 centimeters in the next 40 years” (Monastersky). Though 4 to 8 centimeters sounds like a miniscule amount in relation to the vastness of the world’s oceans, this early article disturbed many readers. Many for this reason: early stud...
...li, Brita. "Defender of the Seas." E: The Environmental Magazine 23.1 (2012): 18-25. Academic Search Premier. Web. 30 Oct. 2013.
The next theory is the Methane Gas Theory, “a large amount of methane gas is known to exist below the ocean floor trapped in the sediments in form of methane hydrates. If such gas finds its way out and starts rising through the water, it can significantly reduce the density of water in that area. And ships passing over that area can sink in no time. Such gas release can also create explosions and