What Force Drives Winds And Ocean Currents

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What Force Drives Winds And Ocean Currents?

Surface currents in the ocean are driven by global wind systems that are fueled by energy from the sun. Patterns of surface currents are determined by wind direction Coriolis forces from the Earth’s rotation and the position of landforms that interact with the currents.

What is the driving force of currents in the oceans?

Answer: Winds water density and tides all drive ocean currents. Coastal and sea floor features influence their location direction and speed. Earth’s rotation results in the Coriolis effect which also influences ocean currents.

What force drives ocean currents quizlet?

It is driven by heat and salinity of the sea water which is where the term thermohaline comes from. Temperature and salinity make up the density of the water. There are different densities that occur in the ocean waters of the world and this is what causes the currents.

What causes currents in the ocean?

Ocean currents are driven by wind water density differences and tides. Oceanic currents describe the movement of water from one location to another.

What forces are responsible for the movement of ocean water in currents?

Ocean currents are the continuous predictable directional movement of seawater driven by gravity wind (Coriolis Effect) and water density. Ocean water moves in two directions: horizontally and vertically.

What is the driving force?

The impetus power or energy behind something in motion as in He was clearly the driving force in the new administration. This term transfers the force that sets in motion an engine or vehicle to other enterprises.

What is the driving force of convection currents in the oceans and atmosphere?

The heating of the Earth’s surface and atmosphere by the sun drives convection within the atmosphere and ocean. This convection produces winds and ocean currents. The greater the pressure differences between a low-pressure area and a high-pressure area the stronger the winds.

What is the driving force for surface currents?

The major driving force of surface currents is the wind. The winds that drive the Gulf Stream are the Westerlies.

What is Continental deflection?

Continental deflection is the term used to describe the way that currents are deflected off of continental land masses.

What is the primary force that drives ocean waves?

Waves are most commonly caused by wind. Wind-driven waves or surface waves are created by the friction between wind and surface water. As wind blows across the surface of the ocean or a lake the continual disturbance creates a wave crest.

What forces are responsible for the movement of ocean water in currents What forces and factors influence the direction and nature of ocean currents?

These currents are on the ocean’s surface and in its depths flowing both locally and globally. Winds water density and tides all drive ocean currents. Coastal and sea floor features influence their location direction and speed. Earth’s rotation results in the Coriolis effect which also influences ocean currents.

How do winds cause surface currents?

Wind is the most important cause of surface currents. When strong sustained winds blow across the sea friction drags a thin layer of water into motion. The movement of the very topmost layer of the sea pulls on the water just beneath which then in turn starts the layer under it moving.

How do tides cause ocean currents?

Tidal currents occur in conjunction with the rise and fall of the tide. The vertical motion of the tides near the shore causes the water to move horizontally creating currents. … As the tides rise and fall they create flood and ebb currents.

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What force causes ocean tides?

gravitational pull
The moon’s gravitational pull is the primary tidal force. The moon’s gravity pulls the ocean toward it during high high tides. During low high tides the Earth itself is pulled slightly toward the moon creating high tides on the opposite side of the planet.Jul 7 2015

Why does wind and Coriolis force affect ocean currents?

The winds pull surface water with them creating currents. As these currents flow westward the Coriolis effect—a force that results from the rotation of the Earth—deflects them. … In contrast to wind-driven surface currents deep-ocean currents are caused by differences in water density.

What forces are responsible for currents?

Ocean currents can be caused by wind density differences in water masses caused by temperature and salinity variations gravity and events such as earthquakes or storms. Currents are cohesive streams of seawater that circulate through the ocean.

What are the driving forces of reactions?

When both cases are satisfied i.e. if the change in enthalpy is negative and the change in entropy is positive the reaction is said to be spontaneous and thus enthalpy and entropy are the two driving thermodynamic forces of chemical reactions.

What are examples of driving forces?

Some examples of driving forces are executive mandate stakeholder demands and increased efficiency. Restraining forces are forces that make change more difficult. These forces counteract driving forces and lead to the avoidance or resistance of change.

What are driving and resisting forces?

Driving forces are factors that are supporting the change away from the current state. Restraining forces are factors that work against the change.

What is the driving force for convection?

Buoyancy is what drives natural convection where the pressure differential between air heated by heat sources and surrounding ambient air drives the hot air upwards and away from the heat source.

How do convection currents cause wind?

In summary: Convection lowers surface pressure which creates a pressure gradient that tries to correct itself by having Air move from higher pressure to the lower pressure area created by the rising air. This correction in pressure is what we call wind.

What drives the convection currents inside of the earth?

The Earth’s crust is broken up into pieces called plates. The crust moves because of movements deep inside the earth. Heat rising and falling inside the mantle creates convection currents generated by radioactive decay in the core.

What is the driving force of ocean currents and atmospheric movement quizlet?

The sun is the driving force of oceanic and atmospheric circulations. It heat the earth unevenly causing convection currents in the air and ocean.

What is the driving force of deep ocean circulation?

In the deep ocean the predominant driving force is differences in density caused by salinity and temperature variations (increasing salinity and lowering the temperature of a fluid both increase its density). There is often confusion over the components of the circulation that are wind and density driven.

What is the driving force of deep currents quizlet?

The Coriolis effect influences currents. This is due to earth’s rotation currents are deflected to the right of the northern hemisphere and to the left of the southern. As a consequence gyres flow in opposite directions in the two different hemispheres.

What causes ocean currents quizlet?

A directional movement of ocean water surface currents result from steady winds over the ocean surface deep ocean currents result from density variations due to temperature and salinity differences.

What are surface currents?

A current is a stream of moving water that flows through the ocean. Surface currents are caused mainly by winds but not daily winds. Surface currents are caused by the major wind belts. … So they can keep water moving in the same direction.

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What are surface currents quizlet?

surface currents. ocean currents that occur at or near the surface of the ocean caused by wind. affected by 3 factors continental deflections the coriolis effect and global winds.

What is the primary driving force of a stream or river?

Rivers and streams complete the hydrologic cycle by returning precipitation that falls on land to the oceans (Figure 10.1). Ultimately gravity is the driving force as water moves from mountainous regions to sea level.

What are the two principal driving forces behind the currents?

There are two major sources of energy for driving ocean currents: the sun (via wind) and density (via salt content and temperature).

What are the three types of movement of ocean water?

Seawater motions are the result of waves tides and currents (Figure below).

What is the primary force driving the movement of ocean water in the Gulf Stream?

The driving force behind the Gulf Stream and other ocean currents is simple physics: In the waters west of Europe the evaporation of water makes the sea saltier and colder which makes the water more dense.

What is the motion of the ocean’s water and what is the reason for this movement?

This water movement is driven by convection: The movement of water due to differences in temperature. Because the warm water is lighter than the cold water and wants to expand it moves into the upper cup through the hole.

What is its role in wind driven circulation?

Wind driven circulation describes the process in which winds moving along the surface of the ocean push the water in their direction and create currents near the surface. … Because of the Coriolis Effect water will also rotate in this direction.

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