OCS 1005 Chapter : Unit 7
15 Mar 2019
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Learning objectives unit 7 march 1st 6th. Ocean circulation: you should know what surface currents are and what drives them, surface currents wind-driven movement of water at the surface. Occur in the upper 400 m, primarily above the pycnocline: pycnocline area within the water column where we have rapid changes in density. Gyre circular flow around an ocean basin: you should know what thermohaline circulation is and what drives it, thermohaline currents slow, deep currents (below the pycnocline) driven by the density of water masses. We have the trade winds near the equator, which are winds that blow from the east to the west, and we have the westerlies, winds that flow from the west to the east. As these winds blow over the surface to the ocean, they move water in the general direction of the wind, and we can get these circular circulation patterns in the ocean basins we call gyres.
