Mixed Layer, The upper 100m or so of ocean that can be moved by wind, Wind, Movement of air from an area of high pressure to area of low pressure, High Pressure, Cold sinking air that presses into the ocean/ground, Low Pressure, Hot rising air that lifts up off the surface of the ocean/ground, Global Winds, Global bands of winds that move in alternating directions: South East, North West, South East etc., Friction, A force that opposes movement and helps the wind push water around in currents, Coriolis Effect, Deflection of air or water sideways when it is trying to travel North/South due to the spin of Earth on its axis, Northern Hemisphere, Coriolis effect here deflects things to the RIGHT, Southern Hemisphere, Coriolis effect here deflects things to the LEFT, Equator, Latitude that spins the fastest, Poles, Latitude that spins the slowest, Gyre, A large rotating surface current caused by wind + coriolis effect, Northerly, A wind that is blowing from the North, Easterly, A wind that is blowing from the East, Transverse Currents, Currents that travel horizontally across the ocean basin from one continent to another, Eastern Boundary Current, Move cold water from the poles down to the equator, Western Boundary Current, Move warm water from the equator back down/up to the poles, Ekman Spiral, Layers of water move increasingly slow with depth so experience more Coriolois deflection creating this, Ekman Transport, Net movement of water at 90 degrees to the wind blowing on it, Coastal Upwelling, Water that gets dragged up from the deep layer due to Ekman transport of water away from the coast, Coastal Downwelling, Water that gets pushed down into the deep layer due to Ekman transport of water towards the coast, Deep Layer, Bottom 1000+m of ocean water that is dark, dense, and very cold, Convergent Ekman Transport, Global winds blowing in opposite directions cause Ekman transport to push water into the middle of a gyre, Geostrophic Flow, When water tries to flow down from the pile in the middle of a gyre but Ekman transport pushes back creating a stable hill, Garbarge Patch, A dense patch of floating plastic debris that ends up stuck in the calm centre of a gyre, Clockwise, Direction that water flowing down the middle of a gyre gets deflected in the Northern hemisphere, Anticlockwise, Direction that water flowing down the middle of a gyre gets deflected in the Southern hemisphere

13ESS Ocean Processes - Surface Currents

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