Quiz 7: Atmosphere-Ocean Relationships

How much more heat is transferred from the ocean to the atmosphere as latent heat rather than as sensible heat?

10 times as much

Essentially all the energy from sunlight that is directly absorbed in the ocean occurs between the surface and ______

100 to 200 m

What is the main difference between heat sources and sinks with regards to the ocean currents?

Heat sinks chill and stabilize overlying air; Heat sources destabilize air by adding energy to the overlying air

Which of the following low pressure systems impact the sub-polar gyre?

Aleutian low; Icelandic Low

What current crosses from one ocean basin to another?

Indonesian

What are common characteristics of El Niño and La Niña?

Significant changes in tropical Pacific SST; Significant shifts in planetary scale circulations

The Southern Oscillation considers which of the following variables?

Air pressure

How do conditions during the La Niña phase of ENSO compare to El Niño?

They are generally the opposite

Which of the following is an impact of El Niño on tropical weather systems?

All of the above

Which of the following is common during a La Niña phase?

Greater likelihood of tropical cyclone formation in the Atlantic Basin

In the midlatitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, what is the wind pattern during a La Niña event?

Primarily meridional

In what geographical location are variables measured and employed in determining the Multivariate ENSO Index?

Tropical Pacific

When is a La Niña more likely to follow an El Niño event?

When it is particularly strong

How does monitoring ENSO help humankind?

Leads to a better understanding of the ENSO cycle; Helps us better prepare and mitigate the effects of variability

Which of the following has primary impacts that include precipitation and temperatures in the winter over eastern North America and much of Europe and North Africa?

North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO)

Which of the following indexes would cause stronger than usual winter winds to blow across the North Atlantic?

High NAO

Which of the following is likely to result from a negative Arctic oscillation, with regards to the US?

Heavy lake-effect snow; More frequent nor'easters

Which of the following oscillation cycles impact each other?

PDO and ENSO; Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) and ENSO

What impacts the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO)?

SST

When MJO and ENSO occur in the same location, what happens?

MJO convection clusters move east

Which location is most impacted by the Pineapple Express?

California

What is the precipitation pattern during a monsoon active phase?

Mostly cloudy with frequent rain

What is the weather pattern during a monsoon dormant phase?

Mostly sunny and hot

In which states of the U S is the Southwest Monsoon prevalent?

All of the above

What variable is used as proxy data to measure heat absorbed in the oceans?

Salinity

What happens when we add more CO2 to the atmosphere?

Additional amounts of carbon are added to the ocean; Oceans become more acidic

What is the average albedo of the ocean surface?

8%

The fact that clear atmosphere is nearly transparent to incoming solar radiation but less transparent to outgoing radiation is the basic principle of which of the following?

Greenhouse effect

Movement of the ITCZ affects the timing and amount of rainfall where?

Brazil; Sub-Saharan Africa

How are surface ocean currents driven?

Wind

A large-scale rotating ocean current is known as what?

Gyre

When compared to the sub-tropical gyre, what is the rotation of the sub-polar gyre?

Opposite

What happens to the direction of water movement due to the wind as depth increases to about 100 to 150m?

changes

Water piles up and sinks in which of the following processes?

Downwelling

The pycnocline is a function of ______

density

Although deep ocean currents are weak compared to surface currents, there are generally ______ volumes of water involved

greater

Which of the following is based on the difference in air pressure between Darwin and Tahiti?

Southern Oscillation Index (SOI)

El Niño is the ______ phase of the ENSO cycle?

warm

A linkage between changes in atmospheric circulation in widely separated regions is known as what?

Teleconnection

La Niña is the ______ phase of the ENSO cycle

cold

How many variables is the ENSO index based on?

6

The ENSO Observing System was part of which of the following?

TOGA

The Arctic Oscillation (AO) impacts areas between the poles and which latitude?

45 °N

Arctic winds are stronger when the AO is in which phase?

Positive

During a PDO warm phase, what happens to the amount of plankton?

Decreases

In what phase has the PDO been since the beginning of the 21st century?

Cool

The Pineapple Express is a subset of which of the following?

Atmospheric Rivers

pH is a measure of which of the following?

Hydrogen ion concentration; Hydroxyl ion concentration

When glacial ice flows from land to sea, what happens to sea level?

Rises immediately

Which of the following impacts sea-level change?

All of the above