Marine Science Chapter 9 Vocabulary (copy)
Terms
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- cold-core
- an eddie-induced gyre that rotates counterclockwise and has a cool water center
- contour currents
- Bottom currents that flow around obstacles and that are influenced by bottom topography.
- countercurrents
- Current that runs in the opposite direction as an adjacent current.
- downwellings
- A downward vertical current that pushes surface water toward the bottom.
- drogue
- a simple apparatus resembling a holey sock enabling scientists to study surface currents
- eddies
- Swirling counter currents caused by friction from the flow of a current
- Ekman transport
- The net motion of the water column down to friction depth, which is 90* to the right in the Northern Hemisphere or 90* to the left in the Southern Hemisphere
- Ekman spiral
- The spiral of water layers flowing to the right of the layer above due to Ekman transport
- El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO)
- A more intense El Nino that occurs every few years when the upwelling of cold nutrient rich water does not occur; kills plankton, fish, and effects weather patterns
- Eulerian method
- The study of currents through the use of fixed instruments that measure water characteristics as it flows by
- flotsam method
- Studying currents by tracking the highly identifiable items accidentally or naturally adrift in the water
- geostrophic currents
-
Current created by the rotation of the Earth
(Coriolis effect) - gulf stream
- A warm ocean current flowing north from the gulf of mexico along the east coast of the U.S. to an area off the south-east coast of Newfoundland.
- gyre
- The circular flow of currents in an ocean basin due to the Coriolis effect
- Lagrangian method
- the study of currents by floating devices in the current to follow its path
- La Nina
- Cold ocean temperatures in the Eastern equatorial Pacific as compared to El Nino which is warm
- ocean conveyor belt
- The interconnected surface and deep water currents that redistribute heat throughout the world
- pressure gradient force
- Directed from high to low pressure and this force is called "pressure gradient force"
- sea level
- The average level of the sea's surface at its mean level between high and low tide
- sverdrup
- unit of measurement for current flow that equals one million cubic meters per second
- thermohaline circulation
- Movement of water due to density differences
- undercurrent
- Current that runs in the opposite direction and beneath a surface current
- upwelling
- An upward vertical current that brings deeper water to the surface
- warm-core
- an eddie-induced gyre that rotates clockwise and has a warm water center
- western intensification
- The flow of major ocean currents against western ocean western ocean basin boundaries caused by the Coriolis effect
- Argo float
- floats used to study currents that transmit data to satellites; drifts at depths typically ranging from 1,500 to 2,000 meters (5,000 to 6,500 feet)
- Doppler Acoustic Current Meter
- a most sophisticated device for studying current direction and speed; simple and very accurate