The Motions Of Our Oceans Creating An Understanding Of… Ocean Currents Wave Formation & Other Oceanic Events

Ocean Currents New Vocabulary Terms: –Surface Current –Coriolis Effect –Deep Current –Upwelling –El Nino The natural cycle of water movement throughout the oceans of the world.

Surface Currents Streamlike movements of water that occur at or near the surface of the ocean (Holt 2002).

Coriolis Effect The effect of Earth’s rotation which causes winds & currents to move in opposite directions on either side of the equator Wind Direction

Deep Ocean Currents Stream-like movements of ocean water far below the surface. As warmer, less dense water cools it sinks to the bottom pushing warmer waters upwards to the surface. This creates a conveyor belt effect which circulates water throughout the world.

Upwellings A process in which cold, nutrient-rich water from the deep ocean rises to the surface and replaces warm surface water. This diagram illustrates coastal upwelling along the West Coast of South America (Southern Hemisphere). Strong winds (red arrows) prevail along the coast of southern Ecuador and Peru. These winds drag the surface water away from the coast and cold, nutrient-rich water (dark blue) wells up along the shore of the eastern Pacific.

El Nino The periodic change in the location of warm and cool surface waters in the Pacific Ocean.

Anatomy & Movement Of Waves Crest Trough Wavelength Wave Height Wave Period Breaker Surf Whitecap Swells Tsunami New Vocabulary Terms:

Wave Crest & Trough The wave crest is the highest point of a wave and the trough is the lowest point. CREST TROUGH

Wave Height The vertical distance between the crest and trough of a wave. 74 FEET!!

WAVE LENGTH: The distance between two adjacent wave crests or troughs Wave Length Wave Period Wave Period: The time between the passage of two wave crests or troughs at a fixed point.

Wave Simulation e/interactives/waves/index.htmlwww.nationalgeographic.com/volvooceanrac e/interactives/waves/index.html. e/interactives/waves/index.html

Breaks & Surf Breakers are the point where waves hit shallow water, causing them to topple over and break. Surf is the area between the Breaker Zone and the shoreline. BREAK! SURF

White Caps Waves that break in open water that are usually caused by high winds and storms.

Swells Groups of waves that move together over an open body of water until they hit a land mass.

Tsunamis Waves that form when a large volume of water is suddenly moved up or down (usually caused by undersea earthquakes). Hilo, Hawaii 1946

Hurricanes A hurricane is a tropical storm with winds that have reached a constant speed of 74 miles per hour or more.