Unit 10 Review Key -Ocean Currents printable pdf download

Unit 10 Review Key -Ocean Currents

Unit 10 Review Key – Ocean Circulation

Reference Materials: Fluid Earth pages 184-194, Introduction to the World’s Oceans Chapter 8, Class notes, discussions,

and PowerPoint.

Vocabulary List

current

western intensification

Longshore current

gyre

upwelling

Rip current

eddys

downwelling

El Nino

Ekman spiral

equatorial upwelling

La Nina

Coriolis effect

Sargasso sea

ENSO

Garbage gyre

Global conveyor belt

Surface Currents

1. What is the primary cause (driver) of surface currents around the world? WIND

2. Describe how surface currents are steered and in what direction they tend to turn in the northern and southern

hemispheres They are steered by the Coriolis effect due to the Earth’s rotation. Because currents are moving

slower than the winds they are more affected by the Coriolis effect than the winds. This is called the Ekman

Spiral. Due to the Ekman Spiral, currents turn to the right (clockwise) in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left

(counterclockwise) in the Southern Hemisphere

3. What is the predominant direction of current flow between 0-30 degrees latitude (near the equator) and what is the

primary direction of current flow between 30-60 degrees latitude? To the west near the equator and to the east

between 30 and 60 degrees latitude

4. On the map below, draw in and label the following major currents: (A) Gulf Stream, (B) North Atlantic, (C) Canary

(D) North Equatorial, (E) Kuroshio, (F) North Pacific, (G) California, (H) West Wind Drift, and (I) Labrador

Unit 10 Review Key -Ocean Currents