Exam 2

Question 1
0 / 15 pts
Why is the climate of the British Isles and northern Europe so mild, even though they are at the same latitude as frozen Labrador and Greenland? What happened in Panama in the Pliocene to cause this to occur, and how are Panama and the birth of the Arctic Ice Cap in the Pliocene linked?
 
Question 2
7 / 15 pts
What drives the circulation of the deep ocean? How fast does it move? How was it measured? How does the Antarctic contribute to the deep ocean currents?
 
Question 3
12 / 15 pts
Describe the Coriolis effect, using the example of a merry-go-round. Which way do things move in the Northern Hemisphere? In the Southern Hemisphere? Parallel to the equator?
 
Question 4
15 / 15 pts
Describe the unusual properties of water as it cools down to the freezing point. What happens between 4°C and 0°C? How is this important to systems on earth? 
 
Question 5
0 / 15 pts
Describe how the Ekman spiral and geostrophic flow pushes the water into an asymmetric “mountain of water” near the center of each gyre.
 
Question 6
15 / 15 pts
Describe the conditions in the ocean and atmosphere that produce El Niño and La Niña. Do not forget to describe the shift of the warm pool, the shift of the high and low pressure systems over the tropical Pacific, and their effects on upwelling along the coast of South America and the rains and drought in Australia
 
Question 7
12 / 15 pts
Define the thermocline, pycnocline and. halocline. Describe how temperature and density and salinity in the oceans vary with depth in polar, temperate, and tropical latitudes.
 
 
Question 8
10 / 10 pts
SHORT ANSWER ID. 2-3 sentences/phrases each
GREAT OCEAN CONVEYER BELT
 
Question 9
10 / 10 pts
CRYOCONITE

 
Question 10
10 / 10 pts
SARGASSO SEA

 
Question 11
10 / 10 pts
ERRATIC