Transcript Chapter 5 Ocean Waves - Smyrna Middle School

The Movement of Ocean water
Carin Miranda
Fall 2012
Smyrna Middle School
6B
Surface Currents
• Caused by global winds, the Coriolis effect,
and continental deflection (turns direction).
• Surface Currents carry warm water away
from the equator.
Coriolis Effect?
• The apparent curving of moving objects
from a straight path
– Caused by the Earth’s rotation
• Example: Trying to roll a ball straight
across a turning merry-go-round.
• Ocean currents in the Northern and
Southern hemisphere turn in opposite
directions
Continental Deflections
• When a surface current approaches a
continent it deflects or changes direction.
Taking Temperatures
• Warm water currents create unusually warm
climates for the coastal areas that are near
the area that the water has flowed.
• These surface currents carry warm water
away from the equator.
Deep Currents
• Colder and denser than surface currents
• When the air above the water gets cold, the
water’s molecules slow down, move close
together, and increase in density.
• The density of water increases when it gets
colder.
• The increase in density causes the water to
sink.
Salinity of Ocean Water
• Salinity is the measure of the amount of
dissolved salts or solids in a liquid.
• Evaporation increases the salinity of ocean
water.
El Nino and La Nina
• Both change the weather from what should
normally be expected.
• El Nino-change in the water temperature in the
Pacific Ocean that produces a warm current.
– Brings floods, mudslides, and drought
• La Nina-change in the eastern Pacific Ocean in
which the surface water temperature becomes
unusually cool.
– Brings blizzards
Sea Breeze vs. Land Breeze
• Cold air is more dense than warm air so the
cold air does the pushing.
• Sea Breeze-The wind blows off the water
toward the land. When the temperature over
land is greater than the temperature over
water.
• Land Breeze-The wind blows off the land
toward the water. When the temperature
over the water is greater than the
temperature over the land.