Ocean Water Movements
Surface circulation

__________________ are masses of water that flow from one place to another

__________________ develop from friction between the ocean and the wind that blows across the
surface

Huge, slowly moving __________________________
Surface circulation

Five main gyres (all subtropical gyres)
1. ____________________________________
2. ____________________________________
3. ____________________________________
4. ____________________________________
5. ____________________________________

Related to ______________________________________

Monsoons-seasonal _______________________________
Average Ocean Surface Currents in February–March
Surface circulation

Deflected by the _______________ ___________________

To the ____________________ in the Northern Hemisphere

To the ____________________ in the Southern Hemisphere

Four main currents generally exist within each gyre (poleward moving currents are warm)

Importance of surface currents

Climate

Currents from low latitudes into higher latitudes (warm currents) transfer heat from
______________ to _________________ areas, most noticed in the middle latitudes
during winter.
Surface circulation

Importance of surface currents

Climate

Influence of _________currents is most pronounced in the tropics or during the
summer months in the middle latitudes


Maintains _____________ __________ __________________
Upwelling

The ____________ of cold water from deeper layers

Most common along west coast of continents (coastal upwelling)

____________ rich water from below is added to surface ____________
Deep-ocean circulation

A response to ____________________ differences

Factors creating a dense mass of water

__________________ —Cold water is dense
(sea ice causes unfrozen water to be saltier)


_______________ —Density increases with increasing salinity
Called ___________________ _____________________
Deep-ocean circulation

Most water involved in deep-ocean currents begins in ______________ latitudes at the surface

A simplified model of ocean circulation is similar to a __________________ _____________
that travels from the Atlantic Ocean, through the Indian and Pacific Oceans, and back again.
Idealized “Conveyor Belt” Model of Ocean Circulation