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Earth's Ocean Surface Current Patterns And How They Are Produced
The major ocean surface currents vary in speed, size, and depth by location, but generally help to dictate much of the weather patterns coming from the ocean's surface. This is due to the transfer of heat from one location to another on the planet. These current patterns create larger swirls of mixing currents in some locations called gyres. One of the largest gyres in the world, the Pacific Gyre is located in the waters between the cost of California and Hawai'i (McWilliams and Restrepo, 1999). In other locations, currents form a connective band of moving water between oceans and seas where creatures are carried. Many of these currents mix downward and influence deeper currents as well (Mills, 2011).
Surface currents move...
More specifically, these patterns are produced primarily by wind. This means that the prevailing winds, which are generally clock-wise in the northern hemisphere and counter-clockwise in the southern hemisphere help to dictate the surface flows. These rotational characteristics are the result of the Coriolis Force (Mills, 2011). Currents that are specifically created by wind are called Ekman flow. Other forces that influence surface current can also include geostrophic currents, which flow from areas of high to low pressure under the ocean's surface. These typically occur in the Polar Regions where water is cooled enough to gain a higher density than its mixing currents, sending it downward (McWilliams and Restrepo, 1999). This…
References
McWilliams, J.C. And J.M. Restrepo. (1999) "The wave-driven ocean circulation."
Journal of Physics and Oceanography. Vol. 29, No. 1. Pp. 2523 -- 2540.
Mills, E.L. (2011). The Fluid Envelope of our Planet: How the Study of Ocean
Currents Became a Science. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
They are responsible for transporting the heat from tropics to mid-latitudes. On the other hand, speed is said to be lower in the case of eastern currents (e.g. California Current) which transport cold water to the tropics where this is heated and pushed back to the poles by the western streams. Consequently, ocean surface currents help the Sun energy spread from the equator to the poles ((http://science.hq.nasa.gov/oceans/physical/OSC.html). Swells, breaking surf,
Where, sharp increases or decreases in the temperature could have an effect on the eco system. As any one of the vital pieces of the food system and their way of life; would have ripple effects based on slight changes in temperature. This has the possibility of setting off a mass extinction. (Garrison, 2008) The obvious effect on land would be that humans depend on the ocean as a source
It is difficult to assess to what extent these changes be contributed to global warming, however, due to the relatively short history of observation available to oceanographers. The events put forth in the Pentagon Report are a plausible scenario, although many scientists contest the events as something which is not likely to happen in the near future. There is every possibility though that if climate change continues due to
Speed here is of essence and spices like flying fish are able to jump out of water to escape predators. Others that lack like jellies are transparent. Turtles will have a shell to protect them. Gills enable animals to manage different water pressures like the sharks while whales have the capability of holding their breaths for longer periods. On the other hand, since the benthic zone does not allow
motion of water. In the Ocean there are three major types of currents; Tidal, Coastal, and Surface Ocean. Coastal currents are movements of water that are located near the coast and are influenced by wind, waves and land formations. Surface Ocean currents are currents that are located throughout the oceans, involve much more complex influences like global wind systems, the spin of the earth, salinity, and water temperatures. Normally wind patterns
Continental tropical (cT) air masses are hot, dry, unstable at low levels and generally stable aloft (upper-level ridge); they originate in northern Mexico. Continental polar (cP) or continental arctic (cA) air masses are cold, dry, and stable originating over northern Canada and Alaska as a result of radiational cooling. (Oklahoma Climatological Survey, 2004)" The greenhouse effect has been in the news for the last several decades especially with the resulting