BIO-8 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Thunderstorm, Prokaryotic Small Ribosomal Subunit, Pedogenesis
Document Summary
Ocean currents also affect the distribution of climates. Ocean currents distribute unequal heating of earth"s water and influence the location of diff. climates. In general, warm tropical water circulates up along western reaches of ocean basins toward the poles, and cold polar water circulates down along eastern reaches. Many factors create these currents, including unequal heating, coriolis effects, wind directions, ocean basin topography, and salinity. Gyre: a large-scale water circulation pattern between continents. Ocean water near the equator expands as it warms, causing water to be approx. 8cm higher in elevation than water at mid-latitudes. Gravity pulls the higher water away from the equator. Coriolis effects and prevailing trade winds push surface water east to west in the. Northern hemisphere and west to east in the south. Continents change the direction of current, and westerlies at mid-latitudes push water in the opposite direction. Currents flow clockwise in the northern hemisphere, and counterclockwise in the.
