Which 2 factors give rise to ocean 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.
What are 2 ways the oceans affect the climate?
The oceans influence climate by absorbing solar radiation and releasing heat needed to drive the atmospheric circulation, by releasing aerosols that influence cloud cover, by emitting most of the water that falls on land as rain, by absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it for years to millions of …
What 4 factors affect ocean currents?
Surface Currents. At the surface, currents are mainly driven by four factors—wind, the Sun’s radiation, gravity, and Earth’s rotation. All of these factors are interconnected.
What are two factors that cause currents?
Four Factors That Create Ocean Currents
- Wind. Wind is the single biggest factor in the creation of surface currents.
- Water Density. Another major factor in the creation of currents is water density, caused by the amount of salt in a body of water, and its temperature.
- Ocean Bottom Topography.
- Coriolis Effect.
What are two factors that cause changes in the motion of surface currents like the Gulf Stream?
Wind direction, the spin of Earth, and differences in temperature contribute to currents. Currents occur at the surface of and deep within the ocean. The Coriolis effect contributes to the direction of current flow. Wind direction, the spin of Earth, and differences in temperature contribute to currents.
What are three factors that influence 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 are the factors that drive 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.
What are the 2 major factors controlling movement of ocean water around the planet?
Temperature, winds, gravitational pull of the sun, the earth and the moon, warm and cold currents are the factors that effects the movement of ocean water.
What two factors affect the density of ocean water?
There are two main factors that make ocean water more or less dense: temperature and salinity. Cold, salty water is denser than warm, fresher water and will sink below the less dense layer. Density is defined as the measure of a material’s mass (e.g. grams) divided by its volume (e.g. milliliters).
