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What causes the wind and ocean currents to be deflected?
Currents Tutorial Because the Earth rotates on its axis, circulating air is deflected toward the right in the Northern Hemisphere and toward the left in the Southern Hemisphere. This deflection is called the Coriolis effect. Click the image for a larger view. Coastal currents are affected by local winds.
Are ocean currents deflected?
The winds pull surface water with them, creating currents. As these currents flow westward, the Coriolis effect—a force that results from the rotation of the Earth—deflects them.
What are the causes of ocean currents?
Oceanic currents are driven by three main factors:
- The rise and fall of the tides. Tides create a current in the oceans, which are strongest near the shore, and in bays and estuaries along the coast.
- Wind. Winds drive currents that are at or near the ocean’s surface.
- Thermohaline circulation.
Why do objects appear to be deflected by the Coriolis force?
The Coriolis effect refers to the apparent deflection in the path of a moving object in response to rotation of the Earth. Earth’s atmosphere, including any moving air, is being carried around the Earth by rotation. 2.
Where Ekman transport is deflected away from the shore?
Coastal upwelling occurs where Ekman transport moves surface waters away from the coast; surface waters are replaced by water that wells up from below.
What is the main cause of surface water sinking to cause the deep thermohaline ocean currents?
As the seawater gets saltier, its density increases, and it starts to sink. Surface water is pulled in to replace the sinking water, which in turn eventually becomes cold and salty enough to sink. This initiates the deep-ocean currents driving the global conveyer belt.
Which would experience the greatest deflection due to the Coriolis effect?
The effect of Earth’s rotation on horizontally moving objects is greatest at the poles. The Coriolis deflection decreases as latitude decreases, until it is zero at the equator. In the Northern Hemisphere, the sense of Earth’s rotation is counterclockwise as seen from above the North Pole.