Ocean Atmosphere Interaction Questions and Answers

Q: Coastal upwelling occurs where the wind drives surface water

Correct answer: away from the coast, so deeper water risesWhen the wind blows so that the Ekman transport is offshore, the surface water carried away must be replaced from below, and cold nutrient-rich water rises to take its place. That is why the eastern boundary upwelling regions - off Peru, California, north-west and south-west Africa - support such productive fisheries despite lying in subtropical latitudes.

Q: Match each ocean feature with what characterises it.List IA. Western boundary currentB. Eastern boundary currentC. Equatorial currentD. Antarctic Circumpolar CurrentList II1. westward flow driven by the trades2. narrow, fast, deep and warm3. the largest transport of any current4. broad, slow, shallow and cool

Correct answer: A-2, B-4, C-1, D-3The asymmetry of the gyres is the point. Western boundary currents are narrow, fast, deep and warm, carrying heat polewards; eastern boundary currents are broad, slow, shallow and cool, and are where upwelling occurs. Equatorial currents flow westward under the trades. And the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, unobstructed by any continent, carries more water than any other.

Q: Western boundary currents such as the Gulf Stream are

Correct answer: narrow, fast and warmThe Gulf Stream and the Kuroshio are a hundred kilometres wide and move at metres per second, against the thousand-kilometre width and centimetres per second of their eastern counterparts. The intensification arises because the Coriolis parameter varies with latitude, which crowds the return flow of each gyre against the western boundary - and it is why these currents dominate the poleward transport of heat.

Q: The thermohaline circulation is driven by

Correct answer: density differences of temperature and saltThe thermohaline circulation is driven by density: cooling and salt rejection during sea ice formation at high latitudes make surface water dense enough to sink, and that sinking drives a slow global overturning with a timescale of a thousand years or so. Wind, tides and Coriolis all act on it, but density contrast is what sets it in motion.

21.

Coastal upwelling occurs where the wind drives surface water

A.along the coast with no net transport
B.downwards at the shore itself
C.away from the coast, so deeper water rises
D.towards the coast, piling the water up there

Answer: C

Correct answer: away from the coast, so deeper water rises

When the wind blows so that the Ekman transport is offshore, the surface water carried away must be replaced from below, and cold nutrient-rich water rises to take its place. That is why the eastern boundary upwelling regions - off Peru, California, north-west and south-west Africa - support such productive fisheries despite lying in subtropical latitudes.

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22.

Assertion (A): The western coasts of continents in the subtropics are often foggy and arid.
Reason (R): Upwelling of cold water cools the air, producing fog but suppressing convection.

A.Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A
B.A is true but R is false
C.A is false but R is true
D.Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A

Answer: D

Both are true and the reason gives both effects, and the Atacama and Namib deserts both lie beside such an upwelling system. Fog supplies what little moisture reaches them, since the cold air is too stable to produce any rain.

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23.

Match each ocean feature with what characterises it.
List I
A. Western boundary current
B. Eastern boundary current
C. Equatorial current
D. Antarctic Circumpolar Current
List II
1. westward flow driven by the trades
2. narrow, fast, deep and warm
3. the largest transport of any current
4. broad, slow, shallow and cool

A.A-2, B-4, C-1, D-3
B.A-4, B-2, C-1, D-3
C.A-2, B-4, C-3, D-1
D.A-3, B-1, C-4, D-2

Answer: A

Correct answer: A-2, B-4, C-1, D-3

The asymmetry of the gyres is the point. Western boundary currents are narrow, fast, deep and warm, carrying heat polewards; eastern boundary currents are broad, slow, shallow and cool, and are where upwelling occurs. Equatorial currents flow westward under the trades. And the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, unobstructed by any continent, carries more water than any other.

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24.

Western boundary currents such as the Gulf Stream are

A.driven entirely by density differences
B.narrow, fast and warm
C.broad, slow and rather cool
D.confined entirely to the tropics

Answer: B

Correct answer: narrow, fast and warm

The Gulf Stream and the Kuroshio are a hundred kilometres wide and move at metres per second, against the thousand-kilometre width and centimetres per second of their eastern counterparts. The intensification arises because the Coriolis parameter varies with latitude, which crowds the return flow of each gyre against the western boundary - and it is why these currents dominate the poleward transport of heat.

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25.

Assertion (A): Ocean gyres are intensified on their western sides.
Reason (R): The Coriolis parameter varies with latitude, which concentrates the return flow against the western boundary.

A.A is true but R is false
B.A is false but R is true
C.Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A
D.Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A

Answer: C

Both are true and the reason gives the cause, and the result is that a handful of narrow currents carry most of the poleward heat transport of the ocean. The Coriolis parameter varies with latitude. A few narrow jets carry most of the transport.

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26.

The thermohaline circulation is driven by

A.the wind stress acting at the surface alone
B.the action of the tides alone
C.the Coriolis force acting alone
D.density differences of temperature and salt

Answer: D

Correct answer: density differences of temperature and salt

The thermohaline circulation is driven by density: cooling and salt rejection during sea ice formation at high latitudes make surface water dense enough to sink, and that sinking drives a slow global overturning with a timescale of a thousand years or so. Wind, tides and Coriolis all act on it, but density contrast is what sets it in motion.

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27.

Consider the following statements about the thermohaline circulation.
1. Deep water forms where surface water is both cold and saline.
2. The overturning timescale is of the order of a thousand years.
3. It is driven by the same winds as the surface gyres.

A.1 and 2 only
B.3 only
C.1 only
D.All of them

Answer: A

The first two are correct. The third confuses the two circulations, since the deep flow is driven by density and the surface flow by wind, though the two are coupled at the points where water sinks. Cold and salt together make water dense.

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28.

Three of the following favour the sinking of surface water. Which is the odd one out?

A.high evaporation raising the salinity
B.heavy rainfall freshening the surface
C.strong cooling at the surface
D.brine rejection during sea ice formation

Answer: B

Freshening lowers the density and opposes sinking, while the other three all raise it. The balance between them is what determines where deep water can form. Freshening opposes sinking. Cooling, evaporation and ice formation all raise density.

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29.

Assertion (A): Freshening of the North Atlantic could weaken the overturning circulation.
Reason (R): Deep water formation depends on the surface water being dense enough to sink.

A.A is true but R is false
B.A is false but R is true
C.Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A
D.Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A

Answer: C

Both are true and the reason gives the mechanism, and this is one of the more discussed potential consequences of ice sheet melt in a warming climate. Density is the whole of the mechanism. Sinking requires water dense enough to descend.

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30.

The ocean and atmosphere exchange heat mainly through

A.conduction through the deep sea floor
B.the action of the ocean tides
C.chemical reaction at depth
D.evaporation, sensible heat and radiation

Answer: D

Evaporation is much the largest term over most of the ocean, and it links the heat and water cycles together. The exchange is concentrated in the thin surface layer where the two fluids meet. Latent heat is the largest term.

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