Marine Science I Honors - Air-Sea Interactions: Wind and Ocean Currents

Vocabulary flashcards related to air-sea interactions, wind, and ocean currents.

Troposphere

The lowest layer of the atmosphere, extending up to 15,000m or 49,200ft, and the layer most relevant to us.

Stratosphere

The second layer of the atmosphere, extending from 50,000m to 164,200ft.

Mesosphere

The third layer of the atmosphere, extending up to 90,000m to 295,200 ft.

Thermosphere

The top layer of the atmosphere, extending outwards into space up to 110,000m or 360,800 ft.

Convection

Vertical circular currents caused by temperature differences in a fluid such as air.

Coriolis Effect

A phenomenon that causes moving objects to deflect to the RIGHT in the NORTHERN Hemisphere and to the LEFT in the SOUTHERN Hemisphere.

Hadley Cells

Atmospheric circulation cells lying between the equator and approximately 30 degrees north or south.

Trade Winds

Winds caused by air rising at the equator and moving northward.

Ferrel Cells

Wind cells existing between 30 and 60 degrees latitude, formed from wind descending from the Hadley cells.

Westerlies

Prevailing winds from the west toward the east in the middle latitudes between 30 and 60 degrees latitude.

Polar Easterlies

Dry, cold prevailing winds that blow from the east, emanating from the polar highs.

Doldrums

A unique area near the equator with little surface wind, where trade winds from the northern and southern hemispheres collide.

Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ)

An imaginary line marking the temperature equilibrium between the hemispheres that shifts north and south of the geographic equator with seasonal changes.

Ocean currents

Continuous, predictable, directional movement of seawater driven by gravity, wind (Coriolis Effect), and water density.

Upwellings and Downwellings

Upwellings are upward vertical currents, and downwellings are downward vertical currents in the ocean.

Gyre

A circular flow in each ocean basin, resulting from the combination of westerlies, trade winds, and the Coriolis effect.

Ekman Transport

The net motion imparted to the water column down to friction depth, moving water 90° to the right of the wind in the Northern Hemisphere, or to the left in the Southern Hemisphere.

Geostrophic currents

Currents created by the Earth’s rotation, resulting from the balance between the pressure gradient force and the Coriolis effect.

Countercurrents

Water flow that differs from the major ocean currents, running opposite of its adjacent current, often in equatorial regions.

Undercurrents

Water flow beneath the adjacent current, found beneath most major currents.

El Niño

A climate pattern where trade winds weaken, and warm water is pushed back east toward the west coast of the Americas.

La Niña

A climate pattern where trade winds are stronger than usual, pushing more warm water toward Asia.

Thermohaline Circulation

Water motion caused by differing water densities, driving the vertical motion of seawater and the ocean’s overall circulation.

Ocean Conveyor Belt

The interconnected flow of currents that redistribute heat around the globe.

Lagrangian method

Studying the current by tracking a drifting object.

Eulerian method

Studying the current by staying in one place and measuring changes to the velocity of the water as it flows past.

Rip currents

Powerful, channeled currents of water flowing away from shore.

Gulf Stream

A strong ocean current that brings warm water from the Gulf of Mexico into the Atlantic Ocean, influencing the climate of the east coast.