Surface Currents Guided Note Slides

Multiple Select

Currents transport which of the following throughout the ocean

• Heat

• Nutrients

• Organisms

• Pollutants

Multiple Choice

Winds, storms, droughts, and clouds

are by-products of the relationship between the 

Sun, the atmosphere, and the ocean

• True

• False

Dropdown

Two layers of horizontal winds moving in opposite directions create a '​

Select answer

Dropdown

Because of the coriolis effect, In the northern hemisphere things are deflected to the right, or move in a​

Select answer

direction. In the southern hemisphere, things are deflected to the left, or move in a ​

Select answer

direction

Fill in the Blanks

Most major surface currents of the open ocean are driven by the

Multiple Choice

Coastal currents often flow in the opposite direction to that of the adjacent ocean gyre boundary currents because

• the coastal currents are directed by local wind patterns and interactions with the coastline

• this arrangement helps to conserve total planetary vorticity.

• the coastal currents are not influenced by the Coriolis effect.

• the coastal currents are driven by coastal upwelling.

Labeling

Label the currents correctly

Drag labels to their correct position on the image

warm current

cold current

Warm current

cold current

Multiple Choice

Warm surface current that directs warm air and water to Europe.

• Gulf Stream

• California current

• Gyres

• Global Conveyor Belt

Reorder

Reorder the following

• Wind moves parallel along the coast

• This ‘activates’ the Ekman Spiral

• Ekman Transport moves 90 degrees from wind direction moving the water away from shore

• This makes room for water below it to move up and take its place

1

2

3

4

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4

Multiple Choice

Upwelling is the process where warm, nutrient rich water from deep in the ocean rises to the surface.

• False
• True

Multiple Choice

A result of upwelling is a/an _________ in nutrients in the water.

• Decrease
• Increase
• No Change

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is associated with upwelling?

• nutrient-rich water

• oxygen-rich water

Multiple Choice

Which will most likely result if there is increased upwelling in a coastal area?

• more aquatic life

• less nutrients in the water

• higher water temperatures

• fewer nitrates

Multiple Choice

Upwellings are areas of rich biological diverstiy

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

How can upwellings improve fishing for ocean fisherman?

• They cause ocean water to get warmer

• They cause ocean currents to remain calm

• They bring nutrients from cold, deep ocean waters

• They bring ocean currents from the Equator

Multiple Choice

Rip currents can occur at any beach with breaking waves, including the Great Lakes

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

A longshore current is characterized by ___________.

• water that approaches the shore head on and washes directly back and forth across the beach.

• water that rises vertically at the shore and sinks as it washes further down the beach

• water that moves horizontally across the edge of the beach in a back and forth pattern

• water that approaches the shore at an angle and washes up and down the beach in a zigzag pattern

Multiple Choice

This longshore current causes swimmers floating in the water just offshore to drift gradually in a direction ________ to the shoreline

• Perpendicular

• parallel

Multiple Choice

materials are worn away and transported by the longshore current(drift)

• weathering

• erosion

• deposition

Multiple Choice

sand moves away from the beach from

• longshore drift

• backwash

• gyres

• wind