WAVES TIDES

WHAT IS A WAVE? A wave is the transmission of energy through matter. When energy moves through matter as a wave, the matter moves back or rotates, but then it returns to its original position. CAUSE: Disturbing forces- wind, changes in gravity, and seismic activity.

TYPES: There are three types of progressive wave— longitudinal, transverse, and orbital.

BREAKING WAVES

tides Tides are daily variations in the ocean’s level. They affect the whole ocean, but they’re most noticeable at the shore.

WHAT CAUSES THE TIDES? Tides result from the gravitational pull of the moon and, to a lesser degree, the sun. In principle, the sun and moon create two bulges on opposite sides of the Earth. The relative positions of the sun and moon change slowly, so the bulge rotates around the Earth. As a coastline rotates into the bulge, the tide rises. As it rotates out, the tide falls.

What are diurnal, semidiurnal and mixed tides?

a. Some places have a single high and low tide daily. This pattern is called a diurnal tide. The Gulf of Mexico has diurnal tides. b. The east coast of the United States has semidiurnal tides. This means having two roughly equal high and low tides daily, as predicted by Newton’s model. c. The Pacific coast of the US, however, has mixed tides. This pattern consists of two unequal high and low tides daily.

The shape and depth of the ocean basins affect tidal patterns. The range—the difference between high and low tides—depends mostly on the basin shape and size. b. Large, wide basins tend to have a smaller tidal range than narrow, shallow basins.

TSUNAMI A tsunami results from sudden water displacement caused by a landslide, an iceberg falling into the sea from a glacier, a volcanic eruption, or, most commonly, an earthquake.

VOCABULARY aerosols convection Coriolis effect cyclone greenhouse effect infrared monsoon orbital inclination stratosphere thermosphere trade winds troposphere ultraviolet radiation water vapor hurricane Tsunami Waves tides

AIR- SEA INTERACTION

Concepts: AIR AND SUN THE CORIOLIS EFFECT INTERTROPICAL CONVERGENCE ZONES

AIR AND THE SUN What are the four layers of the atmosphere? About what percentage of sunlight reaches the Earth’s surface?

ATMOSPHERE STRUCTURE

Air compresses under its own weight. Most of the mass of the atmosphere exists close to Earth in the troposphere and the stratosphere. The effects that concern our study—air quality, weather, and air-sea interactions—take place in these layers.

THE CORRIOLIS EFFECT Gaspard G. Coriolis ( )

What is the Coriolis effect? The Coriolis effect is the tendency for the path of a moving object to deflect to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere. The Coriolis effect also influences ocean currents. The Coriolis effect is a major factor affecting the distribution of the Earth’s heat, nutrients, and many types of life by shaping the flow of wind and current.

2. What causes the Coriolis effect? The Coriolis effect is caused by the Earth’s rotation, which adds an apparent sideways motion to objects moving over the Earth’s surface.

How does the Coriolis effect influence the wind? Convection causes a general circulation pattern that moves air between the equator and the poles. The Coriolis effect deflects the air to the right as it travels (to the left in the Southern Hemisphere). The wind patterns exist in smaller regions called atmospheric circulation cells.

Convection, the Coriolis effect, and atmospheric circulation cells explain the general wind and climate patterns.

What do you know about monsoons, cyclones, hurricanes? Monsoons are seasonal wind pattern changes caused by heating or cooling on the continents. Cyclones are large rotating storm systems of low- pressure air with converging winds at the center. Cyclones can become the particularly intense storms that you know as typhoons (in the Pacific Ocean) or hurricanes (in the Atlantic Ocean). There are two main types of cyclones: extratropical and tropical.