What two factors create currents?

What two factors create currents?

Four Factors That Create Ocean Currents

• Wind. Wind is the single biggest factor in the creation of surface currents.
• Water Density. Another major factor in the creation of currents is water density, caused by the amount of salt in a body of water, and its temperature.
• Ocean Bottom Topography.
• Coriolis Effect.

What are two currents that are part of the thermohaline circulation?

At about 40°0′N 30°0′W, it splits in two, with the northern stream crossing to northern Europe and the southern stream recirculating off West Africa.

Which 2 factors give rise to ocean 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.

What two characteristics of water combine to form thermohaline currents?

Introduction: Thermohaline circulation is a term used to describe the movement of water in the ocean based on temperature (= thermo) and salinity (= haline). These two factors in combination affect the density of seawater.

Which two factors are responsible for the formation of deep currents?

Deep ocean currents are caused by differences in water temperature and salinity (density).

How is thermohaline circulation formed?

Thermohaline circulation begins in the Earth’s polar regions. When ocean water in these areas gets very cold, sea ice forms. These deep-ocean currents are driven by differences in the water’s density, which is controlled by temperature (thermo) and salinity (haline). This process is known as thermohaline circulation.

Where is the thermohaline?

The basic thermohaline circulation is one of sinking of cold water in the polar regions, chiefly in the northern North Atlantic and near Antarctica. These dense water masses spread into the full extent of the ocean and gradually upwell to feed a slow return flow to the sinking regions.

What two places in the world generate the thermohaline conveyor belt?

This very large, slow current is called the thermohaline circulation because it is caused by temperature and salinity (haline) variations. This animation shows one of the major regions where this pumping occurs, the North Atlantic Ocean around Greenland, Iceland, and the North Sea.

What are thermohaline currents how do they form?

Thermohaline circulation begins in the Earth’s polar regions. When ocean water in these areas gets very cold, sea ice forms. The surrounding seawater gets saltier, increases in density and sinks. Winds drive ocean currents in the upper 100 meters of the ocean’s surface.

What 2 factors affect the paths of surface currents?

Surface currents are controlled by three factors: global winds, the Coriolis effect, and continental deflections. surface create surface currents in the ocean. Different winds cause currents to flow in different directions.

What is the process of thermohaline circulation?

Thermohaline Circulation. However, ocean currents also flow thousands of meters below the surface. These deep-ocean currents are driven by differences in the water’s density, which is controlled by temperature ( thermo) and salinity ( haline ). This process is known as thermohaline circulation.

How does thermohaline circulation affect the climate of Iceland?

Thermohaline circulation also drives warmer surface waters poleward from the subtropics, which moderates the climate of Iceland and other coastal areas of Europe. A brief treatment of thermohaline circulation follows.

What are deep ocean currents driven by?

These deep-ocean currents are driven by differences in the water’s density, which is controlled by temperature (thermo) and salinity (haline). This process is known as thermohaline circulation. In the Earth’s polar regions ocean water gets very cold, forming sea ice.

Does Freshwater inhibit large-scale thermohaline circulation?

Thermohaline circulation. Since freshwater is less dense than saline water, a significant intrusion of freshwater would lower the density of the surface waters and thus inhibit the sinking motion that drives large-scale thermohaline circulation. It has also been speculated that, as a consequence of large-scale surface warming,…