What forces are responsible for the movement of ocean water in currents What forces and factors influence the direction and nature of ocean currents?

Primary forces are thermal expansion and contraction of water, the stress of wind blowing over the water, and density differences between water layers. Secondary forces and factors are the Coriolis Effect, gravity, friction, and the shape of the ocean basins themselves.

What are the forces that drive 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.

What forces are responsible for the movement of ocean water in currents quizlet?

What causes Surface ocean currents and how do they flow/what direction do they flow? Surface currents develop from friction between the ocean and the wind that blows across its surface.

What 2 forces are responsible for 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. Currents are cohesive streams of seawater that circulate through the ocean.

What affects the movement of ocean currents?

Winds, water density, and tides all drive ocean currents. Coastal and sea floor features influence their location, direction, and speed. Earth’s rotation results in the Coriolis effect which also influences ocean currents.

How do ocean currents move?

Ocean currents are the continuous, predictable, directional movement of seawater driven by gravity, wind (Coriolis Effect), and water density. Ocean water moves in two directions: horizontally and vertically. Horizontal movements are referred to as currents, while vertical changes are called upwellings or downwellings.

What forces are responsible for the movement of ocean water in currents What forces and factors influence the direction and nature of ocean currents quizlet?

Ocean currents are the continuous, predictable, directional movement of seawater driven by gravity, wind (Coriolis Effect), and water density.

Wind is the primary driving force of surface currents.

Answer: Winds, water density, and tides all drive ocean currents.

What primary and secondary forces are responsible for currents?

Three major factors that set ocean currents: wind, changes in sea level, and cariations in water density. Wind causes both surface currents and waves. What is a gyre?

What forces and factors influence the direction and nature of ocean currents?

What are the three movements of ocean water?

Seawater motions are the result of waves, tides, and currents (Figure below).

How do ocean currents form and move water around the Earth?

Warm water is less dense than cold water. Cold water, dense with nutrients, is formed at the poles. When ocean water freezes, it leaves behind dense, salty water that sinks rapidly. Creation of this cold, dense water pushes deep water all around the world, forming ocean currents.

What are the primary and secondary forces that influence ocean currents?

The primary forces that influence the currents are heating by solar energy, wind, gravity and coriolis force. The secondary forces that influence the currents are temperature difference and salinity difference

How does wind affect the direction of ocean currents?

Friction between the wind and the water surface affects the movement of the water body in its course. Winds are responsible for both magnitude and direction [Coriolis force also affects direction] of the ocean currents. Example: Monsoon winds are responsible for the seasonal reversal of ocean currents in the Indian ocean.

What are the different types of movements of ocean water?

There are different types of movements of ocean water under the influence of different physical characteristics like temperature, salinity, density, etc. Movements of ocean water are also affected by external forces like the sun, moon and the winds. The major movements of the ocean waters can be classified into three.

What is the influence of Coriolis force on ocean currents?

Influence of Coriolis force. The Coriolis force intervenes and causes the water to move to the right in the northern hemisphere and to the left in the southern hemisphere. These large accumulations of water and the flow around them are called Gyres. These produce large circular currents in all the ocean basins.