Oceanography Exam 2

masses of water in motion

Ocean Currents

driven by wind

Surface Currents

from high to low pressure

How does pressure move?

rises, less dense

hot air

more dense and sinks

cold air

dominant wind flow is vertical, also called doldrums

Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ)

The deflection of an objects path due to Earth's rotation

Coriolis effect

circulating ocean currents created by the Coriolis effect

ocean gyre

Indian, South and North Pacific, North and South Atlantic

What are the ocean gyres?

wind flow is deflected right as it is transported into surface water, makes a spiral shape

Ekman spiral

driven by gravity and modified by the Coriolis force that creates a build up of water in the middle of a gyre

Geostrophic flow

North Equatorial Current, Gulf Stream, North Atlantic Current, Canary Current

North Atlantic Gyre

North Pacific Current, California Current, North Equatorial Current, Kuroshio Current

North Pacific Gyre

loops formed from currents that move independently from current

eddies

Driven by density differences in salinity and temperature

deep ocean currents

Processes by which rock, sand, and soil are broken down and carried away (i.e. weathering, glaciation)

Erosion

sediment accumulating in new locations.

Deposition

made of available elements bonding together, building blocks of sediments

Minerals

composed of various minerals, form rocks

Sediment

minerals --> sediments --> rocks

what makes up rocks?

The most abundant group of minerals in the earth's crust.

Feldspars

the chemical weathering of feldspar produces

clay minerals

mineral

Quartz

mineral

Calcite

rock that forms when magma cools and solidifies

igneous rock

rocks that change due to heat and pressure from magma

metaphormic rock

The type of rock that is made of hardened sediment.

sedimentary rock

derived from land, transported from mountains and hills to rivers by wind

lithogenous

mixed surface layer

a layer of water in which there is a rapid change of density with depth

Pycnocline

most of ocean, density increases but movement slows

Deep Layer

The densest ocean water

Antarctic Bottom Water

The movement of deep, cold, and nutrient-rich water to the surface

upwelling

The movement of water from the surface to greater depths.

downwelling

erosion from continental rise on the seabed

turbidity current

accumulated on continental shelf

Neritic

accumulated on ocean basins

Pelagic

formed from hard parts of dead organisms

Bigenous

common, microscopic shells from planktons

oozes

shell fragments

sands

cemented reefs, skeletons, etc

solid structures used in sediments

most common

Calcite (CaCO3)

zooplankton (they eat phytoplankton)

Foraminifera

Photosynthetic phytoplankton

Coccolithophores

depth at which carbonate begins to dissolve

Lysocline

essentially glass

Silica

dotted looking, photosynthesizing phytoplankton

Diatoms

zooplankton (eat phytoplankton: diatoms)

Radiolarians