Geog 2050 Exam 2 Delong

How much of Earth's surface do oceans cover?

71%

On average, how deep are Earth's oceans?

2.5 miles deep

What are the 5 oceans that are connected to each other?

Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern, Arctic

The largest and oldest ocean basin = 46%

Pacific ocean

Has a submerged mountain range called the mid-atlantic ridge = 25%

Atlantic ocean

Found mostly in the Southern Hemisphere = 20%

Indian ocean

Surrounds Antarctica = 6%

Southern ocean

Mostly ice-covered = 3%

Arctic ocean

Driven by wind

Surface ocean currents

Driven by differences in water density

Deep ocean currents

The forces that drive surface ocean currents

Gravity, Pressure gradient force, Coriolis force, Frictional force

Keeps the oceans in their basins on Earth's surface

Gravity

Move water from high-pressure areas to low pressure areas

Pressure gradient force

Acts on large distances and diverts currents to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere due to the spinning of Earth

Coriolis force

At the Equator, the Coriolis force goes to:

Zero

Coriolis force is strongest at:

The poles

Currents are known as

Geostrophic flow

What is the correspondence between the circulation in the ocean and the atmospheric pressure system?

The high pressure in the atmosphere mirrors gyre circulation in the ocean

What direction is the ocean circulating in the subtropical North Hemisphere near high pressure areas?

Clockwise

Why does the water move in it's specific direction?

Coriolis force

Which direction does the water move in the subtropical Southern Hemisphere?

Counter-clockwise

Places located along the Equator receive _____ hours of sunlight on a daily basis

12

What would you expect the temperature of the equatorial current to be?

Warm current

Along the Equator, the surface ocean currents flow from ____to ____

East to west

Why would these equatorial currents not spin like the subtropical gyres?

Coriolis force goes to zero at the equator

Epipelagic zone; 0-200 m; topmost layer where light from the sun penetrates

Photic zone

Below 200 m (650 ft)

Twilight zone

Below the photic zone where light is dim

Mesopelagic zone

No light; below 1000 m

Aphotic zone

Deepest part of the ocean > 6,000 m (20,000 ft)

Hadel zone

Warmest water

The western equatorial pacific

Largest body of cold surface water

Near Antarctic

Same water temperature at the surface and at depth

Arctic ocean

Two variables the flow of deep ocean currents is effected by:

Temperature and Salinity

The differences in temperature and salinity are commonly associated with what is called the:

Thermohaline circulation

Where do cold, salty waters descend in the ocean to form deep water?

Labrador Sea and North of Iceland

Occurs where surface water is swept away from a coast by surface divergence or offshore winds

Upwelling current

Upwelling generally occurs along the ______ side of a continent and in the ______ equatorial regions in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans

Western; Eastern

What direction do ocean currents flow along the equator and why?

Flows from east to west because the coriolis force is zero

True or false: Upwelling occurs along the eastern coast of continents

False

What apparent force is responsible for causing surface currents to move to right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere

Coriolis force

Which two variables influences the flow of deep ocean currents?

Temperature and Salinity

How deep do green wavelengths of light penetrate the ocean?

100 meters

Where do the cold and salty waters descend from the surface to the deepest ocean?

Labrador Sea and Greenland Sea

Submarine-mountain ranges are called:

Mid-ocean ridges

The large circular ocean currents in the ocean basins are called:

Gyres

The shallow, sloping areas of seafloor near the continents are called:

Continental shelves

Three phases on Earth water exists in

Solid, liquid, gas

Ice has a ___ sided structure

Six

"hidden heat" that must be added or removed for a phase change to occur that DOES NOT change the temperature

Latent heat

Phase change from melting and freezing requires ____ calories per gram of water

80

When liquid water becomes water vapor

Evaporation

When water vapor becomes liquid water

Condensation

Phase change from evaporation to condensation requires _____ calories per gram of water

540

The sensible heat needed to raise the temperature 1 degree Celsius for 1 gram of ice

0.5 calories

The latent heat of melting/freezing for 1 gram of ice/water

80 calories

Sensible heat needed to raise the temperature 1 degree Celsius for 1 gram of water

1 calorie

Latent heat of evaporation/condensation for 1 gram of ice/water

540 calories

Sensible heat needed to raise the temperature 1 degree Celsius for 1 gram of water vapor

1 calorie

What route does a drop of water take from the ocean to land and back to the ocean? (Water cycle)

Evaporation, advection of water vapor, encounter a mountain, increase in elevation, colder temperature, condensation, precipitation, surface water, runoff, flow into ocean

What is the largest source of water vapor to the atmosphere?

The ocean

Water vapor forms what in the atmosphere via condensation?

Clouds

What type of water evaporation occurs over land?

Water vapor from plants or Transpiration

Liquid water runoff does not go directly here as liquid water?

Atmosphere

What is transpiration and where does it occur?

The cooling mechanism that allows plants to move water from the ground to the atmosphere and it occurs on land where plants are

How long can water be stored in the groundwater system?

Hundreds to thousands of years

What part of the hydrological cycle occurs exclusively on top of the land surface?

Runoff

The amount of water vapor in the air

Humidity

The gaseous state of water

Water vapor

The ____ the air the more water vapor it can hold

Warmer

The two ways to describe humidity

Absolute humidity and relative humidity

Measured in g/kg or the mass of the water in a mass of air

Specific humidity

Measured in millibars and is the pressure water vapor exerts on its container

Vapor pressure

The energy needed to raise the temperature of water

Specific heat

The energy needed to convert from one phase to another

Latent heat

At 10 degrees C, air can hold about ____ mb of water vapor

11 mb

At 20 degrees C, air can hold about _____ mb of water vapor

22 mb

When the air parcel cannot hold any more water vapor; it is at the maximum capacity where RH = 100%

Saturation

The lower the RH, the _____ the air

Drier

The higher the RH, the _____ the air

Wetter

Air is saturated when the RH is

100%

The temperature that RH is 100%

Dew Point Temperature

The actual amount of water vapor in the air

Absolute Humidity

The ratio of water vapor content to saturation or capacity

Relative Humidity

The temperature of an air mass at saturation

Dew Point Temperature

Has units of g per kilogram

Specific Humidity

Which of the following parts of the hydrological cycle occur exclusively on land?

Runoff, groundwater, and transpiration

Water molecules attach to each other through

Hydrogen bonding

DAR

Dry Adiabatic Rate

ELR

Environmental Lapse Rate

Air that has similar characteristics that tent to stay together and we can think of them as a package in an invisible container

Air Parcel

The Dry Adiabatic Rate

10 degrees C for every 1000 M

The Moist Adiabatic Rate

6 degrees C for every 1000 M

Normal environmental lapse rate

6.5 degrees C for every 1000 M

Heating water on a stove

Diabatic process

Rising air parcel cooling

Adiabatic expansion

Descending air parcel warming

Adiabatic compression

What is the lifting condensation level?

Altitude

Warm air parcels become unstable and rise

Convection Uplift

A moving air parcel meets a mountain range, which forces it to rise

Orographic Uplift