Download Read pages 519-524 and complete the following questions. 1. A

Ocean Currents
21-1
Name _____________________
Date __________________
Hour _____
Read pages 519-524 and complete the following questions.
1. A horizontal movement of water in a well-defined pattern is called a(n) ___________ .
2. Explain what causes winds to form.
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
3. How does wind make water on the ocean’s surface move?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
4. Two types of global wind belts that affect the flow of ocean surface water are called
____________________ and ____________________ .
5. Wind belts located just north and south of the equator are called ______________.
6. In the Northern Hemisphere, trade winds blow from the _____________________.
7. In the Southern Hemisphere, trade winds blow from the _____________________.
8. In both hemispheres, trade winds push currents __________________ across the
tropical latitudes of all three major oceans.
9. In the Northern Hemisphere, westerlies blow from the ______________________.
10. In the Southern Hemisphere, westerlies blow from the ______________________.
11. In the higher latitudes of both hemispheres, westerlies push ocean currents in which
direction? ________________________________________________________
12. Why does a surface current get deflected and divided when it flows against a
continent?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
13. The curving of the path of oceans and winds due to Earth’s rotation is called the
_______________________.
Page _____
14. Huge circles of moving water caused by wind belts and the Coriolis effect are called
____________________.
15. In which direction does the water flow in gyres of the Northern Hemisphere?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
16. In which direction does the water flow in gyres of the Southern Hemisphere?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
17. A current that is uninterrupted by any continents and crosses all three major oceans
is the ________________________.
18. Currents in the northern Indian Ocean are governed by ________________, which
are winds whose directions change seasonally.
19. The Gulf Stream, the North Atlantic Current, the Canary Current, and the North
Equatorial Current form the _________________.
20. A vast area of calm, warm water at the center of the North Atlantic Gyre is called
the _____________________.
21. A streamlike movement of ocean water far below the surface is called a(n)
____________________.
22. Deep currents move much more ___________________than ocean currents.
23. What causes deep currents to form?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
24. What causes the movement of polar waters?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
25. Two factors that determine the density of water are temperature and ___________.
26. Explain why water in polar regions has high salinity.
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
27. Where is the world’s densest and coldest ocean water? _______________________