1. CHAPTER 14:
OCEAN CURRENTS
WHAT IS A CURRENT? The mass movement or flow of ocean water … envision a river flowing within the ocean
Ocean currents can be divided into two types:
Surface—occurs in shallow water
Density—occurs in deep water

2. SURFACE CURRENTS- Are caused by the wind blowing across the ocean
Move in the upper ½ mile of the ocean and affect about 20% of the ocean’s total volume
Surface currents can be warm or cold
Warm surface currents move from the equator to the poles
Cold Surface currents move from the poles to the equator

3. Red are warm currents
Blue are cold currents

4. FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE SURFACE CURRENTS
1. Coriolis Effect:
caused by the earth’s rotation. In the northern hemisphere things turn clockwise. In the southern hemisphere things turn counterclockwise

5. Continents:
Currents will deflect off continents. In the northern hemisphere…east coast currents are warm and west coast currents are cold.

6. D. Antarctic Subpolar Which ocean current is not deflected?
Benguela C. East Australia
North Pacific D. Antarctic Subpolar

7. The Gulf Stream (surface current) moves five hundred times as much water as the Amazon. Warmed by the Caribbean sun, it flows northwards along the North American coastline until it reaches sub polar waters.
Greenland
Iceland

8. The Gulf Stream is the “red river”
HOW SURFACE CURRENTS AFFECT CLIMATE
Oceans absorb more of the suns radiation than land.
Water retains heat longer than land, therefore, the oceans play a major part in determining the type of weather across the Earth
Examples:
Winnipeg and Cork, Ireland’s mild climate is due to heat the Gulf Stream brings to it!
The Gulf Stream is the “red river”

9. Surface Currents affect weather....Gulf Stream’s affect on
Winnipeg and Cork
Greenland
Iceland
Average Temperature
Daily Sunshine (hours)
Average Total Rainfall (in.) Trace
Average Wind Speed (mph) 11 mph
Average No. Days w/Snow/Sleet 15
Average Total Snowfall (inches) 8.8 in
Average Temperature
Daily Sunshine hours
Average Total Rainfall (in.) 5 ½ in.
Average Wind Speed (mph) 15 mph
Average No. Days w/Snow/Sleet 4.5
Average Total Snowfall (inches) Trace

10. STOP
SURFACE CURRENTS LAB….
HAND OUT MAP AND FILL IN
CURRENTS
Then do questions

11. ON YOUR MAP
DRAW A
BLACK LINE
AT THE EQUATOR…
THE 0º LATITUDE LINE…
THIS SEPERATES THE
NORTHERN HEMISPHERE
FROM THE
SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE

12. WARM
CURRENTS
Winnipeg
Cork

13. COLD CURRENTS
Winnipeg
Cork

14. Winnipeg
Cork

15. COLD SURFACE CURRENTS GREENLAND LABRADOR OYASHIO CANARY CALIFORNIA
Cork
Winnipeg
CANARY
CALIFORNIA
BENGUELA
WEST
AUSTRALIAN
WAC
PERU
ANTARCTIC CIRCUMPOLAR
COLD SURFACE CURRENTS

16. WARM SURFACE CURRENTS NORWEGION ALASKA GULF STREAM KUROSHIA AGULHAS
Cork
Winnipeg
ALASKA
GULF STREAM
KUROSHIA
AGULHAS
MOZAMBIQUE
BRAZIL
EAST AUSTRALIAN
EAC
WARM SURFACE CURRENTS

17. DEEP OCEAN OR DENSITY CURRENTS
These currents occur in deeper waters than the surface currents
They occur due to the differences in densities of seawater
The temperature and the amount of salt in ocean water affects its density
STOP HERE TO CONDUCT LAB!!!

18. Lab results From top to bottom: Red (Hot, no salt) Room Temp water
Blue (Cold, no salt)
Yellow (room temperature salt water)

19. Cold, salty water is heavier and sinks
Warm, less salty water rises
This movement creates a convection current in ocean water much like the one in the picture
Cold Water
Sinking
Warm Water
Rising

20. Density Currents cause a process that is known as upwelling
Density Currents cause a process that is known as upwelling. Upwelling is when deep cold nutrient filled water is brought to the surface. Fishermen look for upwelling currents because you find fish feeding on these nutrients.

21. What happens when Upwelling Does Not Occur?
El Nino —A warming of the ocean surface off the western coast of South America that occurs every 4 to 12 years when upwelling of cold, nutrient-rich water does not occur. It affects Pacific jet stream winds, altering storm tracks and creating unusual weather patterns in various parts of the world.
Normal
Heavy rainfall is confined to the warm (red) waters surrounding Indonesia at the western end of the Pacific.
The easterly surface winds weaken and retreat to the eastern Pacific, allowing the central Pacific to warm, and the rain area to migrate westward.
El Nino

22. AMAZING EARTH SCIENCE FACTS
Currents move from ________________ areas
_____________ brings cold, nutrient rich water from the bottom of the ocean to the surface. This is rich in biological activity.
The ____________ is the largest reservoir of heat at the Earth’s surface. It drives the ____________ patterns of the Earth
cold to warm
Upwelling
ocean
weather