Essentials of Oceanography, 12e (Trujillo)
Chapter 7 Ocean Circulation
7.1 Matching Questions
Match the term or description with the appropriate phrase. Not all answers will be used.
A) movement of water from the top to the bottom of the water column
B) net water movement to the left or right of the direction of the wind
C) movement of water from the bottom to the top of the water column
D) water flow driven by gravity and modified by the Coriolis effect
1) downwelling
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 7.3 What Causes Upwelling and Downwelling?
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 7.2 What Creates Ocean Surface Currents and How Are They Organized?
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 7.2 What Creates Ocean Surface Currents and How Are They Organized?
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 7.3 What Causes Upwelling and Downwelling?
Essent’l Concept: 7.3 Describe the conditions that produce upwelling
OSLP: 3 The ocean is a major influence on weather and climate; 1 The Earth has one big ocean
with many features.
Match the term or description with the appropriate phrase. Not all answers will be used.
A) cold current, southern hemisphere, temperate latitudes
B) cold current, northern hemisphere, temperate latitudes
C) cold current, polar latitudes, southern hemisphere
D) warm current, northern hemisphere, temperate latitudes
5) Benguela Current
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 7.4 What Are the Main Surface Circulation Patterns in Each Ocean Basin?
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 7.4 What Are the Main Surface Circulation Patterns in Each Ocean Basin?
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 7.4 What Are the Main Surface Circulation Patterns in Each Ocean Basin?
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 7.4 What Are the Main Surface Circulation Patterns in Each Ocean Basin?
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 7.4 What Are the Main Surface Circulation Patterns in Each Ocean Basin?
10) West Wind Drift
Diff: 2
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 7.4 What Are the Main Surface Circulation Patterns in Each Ocean Basin?
Essent’l Concept: 7.4 Specify the main surface circulation patterns in each ocean basin
OSLP: 1 The Earth has one big ocean with many features.
7.2 Multiple Choice Questions
1) Deep ocean currents are driven primarily by ________ and caused by ________.
A) density differences; the Coriolis effect and land
B) density differences; differences in salinity and temperature
C) latitude; differences in salinity and land
D) wind; the Coriolis effect and land
E) wind; gravity and density
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 7.1 How Are Ocean Currents Measured?
Essent’l Concept: 7.1 Demonstrate an understanding of how ocean currents are measured
2) Surface ocean currents are driven primarily by ________ and modified by ________.
A) density differences; the Coriolis effect and land
B) density differences; differences in salinity and temperature
C) latitude; differences in salinity and land
D) wind; the Coriolis effect and land
E) wind; gravity and density
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 7.2 What Creates Ocean Surface Currents and How Are They Organized?
Essent’l Concept: 7.2 Explain the origin of ocean surface currents and how surface circulation
patterns are organized
OSLP: 1 The Earth has one big ocean with many features.
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3) Which of the following statements is true of surface ocean currents?
A) Surface currents concentrate warm water in the center of the gyre at mid latitudes.
B) Surface currents form circular patterns in the major ocean basins called “gyres.”
C) Surface currents occur within and below the pycnocline.
D) Surface currents transport cold water toward the poles.
E) Surface currents transport warm water toward the equator.
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 7.2 What Creates Ocean Surface Currents and How Are They Organized?
Essent’l Concept: 7.2 Explain the origin of ocean surface currents and how surface circulation
patterns are organized
OSLP: 1 The Earth has one big ocean with many features.
4) Equatorial currents are driven by the ________.
A) Coriolis force
B) density
C) Ekman transport
D) trade winds
E) westerlies
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 7.2 What Creates Ocean Surface Currents and How Are They Organized?
Essent’l Concept: 7.2 Explain the origin of ocean surface currents and how surface circulation
patterns are organized
OSLP: 1 The Earth has one big ocean with many features.
5) Identify the mismatched pair from the choices below.
A) Agulhas Current, West Australia Current
B) Brazil Current, Benguela Current
C) Canary Current, Gulf Stream
D) Kuroshio Current, California Current
E) Labrador Current, Humboldt Current
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Applying/Analyzing
Section: 7.2 What Creates Ocean Surface Currents and How Are They Organized?
Essent’l Concept: 7.2 Explain the origin of ocean surface currents and how surface circulation
patterns are organized
OSLP: 1 The Earth has one big ocean with many features.
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6) Compared to an eastern boundary current in a gyre, which of the following statements is true
for a western boundary current?
A) Deeper current
B) Increased current velocity
C) Warmer water
D) Narrower current
E) Deeper currents, increased current velocity, warmer water, and narrower current are all true of
western boundary currents
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 7.2 What Creates Ocean Surface Currents and How Are They Organized?
Essent’l Concept: 7.2 Explain the origin of ocean surface currents and how surface circulation
patterns are organized
OSLP: 1 The Earth has one big ocean with many features.
7) Which of the following is a western boundary current?
A) Benguela Current
B) Brazil Current
C) Canary Current
D) California Current
E) Peru Current
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 7.2 What Creates Ocean Surface Currents and How Are They Organized?
Essent’l Concept: 7.2 Explain the origin of ocean surface currents and how surface circulation
patterns are organized
OSLP: 1 The Earth has one big ocean with many features.
8) Compared to western boundary currents, eastern boundary currents are ________.
A) broad and deep
B) broad and slow
C) deep and swift
D) narrow and deep
E) shallow and swift
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 7.2 What Creates Ocean Surface Currents and How Are They Organized?
Essent’l Concept: 7.2 Explain the origin of ocean surface currents and how surface circulation
patterns are organized
OSLP: 1 The Earth has one big ocean with many features.
5
9) Which of the following is NOT an eastern boundary current?
A) California Current
B) Canary Current
C) Gulf Stream
D) Peru Current
E) West Australian Current
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 7.2 What Creates Ocean Surface Currents and How Are They Organized?
Essent’l Concept: 7.2 Explain the origin of ocean surface currents and how surface circulation
patterns are organized
OSLP: 1 The Earth has one big ocean with many features.
10) The Ekman spiral is caused by ________.
A) density differences in the water column
B) the wind and gravity
C) the wind and the Coriolis effect
D) the pycnocline
E) pressure gradients
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 7.2 What Creates Ocean Surface Currents and How Are They Organized?
Essent’l Concept: 7.2 Explain the origin of ocean surface currents and how surface circulation
patterns are organized
OSLP: 1 The Earth has one big ocean with many features.
11) Which type of current flow moves in a circular path around a subtropical convergence,
reflecting Ekman transport, gravity, and the Coriolis effect?
A) Counter-current circulation
B) Density-driven circulation
C) Geostrophic circulation
D) Langmuir circulation
E) Thermohaline circulation
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 7.2 What Creates Ocean Surface Currents and How Are They Organized?
Essent’l Concept: 7.2 Explain the origin of ocean surface currents and how surface circulation
patterns are organized
OSLP: 1 The Earth has one big ocean with many features.
6
12) In the southern hemisphere, the direction of Ekman transport is always ________.
A) at a 45° angle from the wind direction
B) parallel to the wind direction
C) to the east of the wind direction
D) to the left of the wind direction
E) to the right of the wind direction
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 7.2 What Creates Ocean Surface Currents and How Are They Organized?
Essent’l Concept: 7.2 Explain the origin of ocean surface currents and how surface circulation
patterns are organized
OSLP: 1 The Earth has one big ocean with many features.
13) Geostrophic circulation within a gyre is driven by ________.
A) density and the wind
B) gravity and the Coriolis effect
C) temperature and pressure
D) the wind and pressure
E) salinity and gravity
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 7.2 What Creates Ocean Surface Currents and How Are They Organized?
Essent’l Concept: 7.2 Explain the origin of ocean surface currents and how surface circulation
patterns are organized
OSLP: 1 The Earth has one big ocean with many features.
14) Western intensification causes ________.
A) a steeper slope of surface water in the western section of the gyre as compare to the eastern
section of the gyre
B) equatorial countercurrents
C) the center of the gyre to be shift to the west
D) very swift western boundary currents
E) All of the choices are the result of westward intensification.
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 7.2 What Creates Ocean Surface Currents and How Are They Organized?
Essent’l Concept: 7.2 Explain the origin of ocean surface currents and how surface circulation
patterns are organized
OSLP: 1 The Earth has one big ocean with many features.
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15) Surface waters are pushed away from land and replaced by nutrient-rich deep water through
________.
A) convergence
B) downwelling
C) land breezes
D) sea breezes
E) upwelling
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 7.3 What Causes Upwelling and Downwelling?
Essent’l Concept: 7.3 Describe the conditions that produce upwelling
OSLP: 3 The ocean is a major influence on weather and climate.
16) Which of the following is true of surface water circulation near Antarctica?
A) A gyre is formed here.
B) Two circumpolar currents dominate it, one current that moves water to the east and one
current that moves water to the west.
C) It is dominated by water flow directly away from the polar region toward the north.
D) The surface ocean has no strong currents.
E) The circulation of water around the Antarctic continent is driven by density differences.
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 7.4 What Are the Main Surface Circulation Patterns in Each Ocean Basin?
Essent’l Concept: 7.4 Specify the main surface circulation patterns in each ocean basin
OSLP: 1 The Earth has one big ocean with many features.
17) When a meander from the Gulf Stream pinches off and isolates a body of water within the
North Atlantic gyre, the body of water is called a ________.
A) cold core ring
B) cyclonic circulation
C) geostrophic circulation
D) Langmuir cell
E) warm core ring
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 7.4 What Are the Main Surface Circulation Patterns in Each Ocean Basin?
Essent’l Concept: 7.4 Specify the main surface circulation patterns in each ocean basin
OSLP: 1 The Earth has one big ocean with many features.
8
18) During winter months, monsoon winds over the Indian Ocean ________.
A) flow from land to sea and are dry
B) flow from land to sea and are wet
C) flow from sea to land and are dry
D) flow from sea to land and are wet
E) the direction of airflow is unchanged but precipitation increases
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Applying/Analyzing
Section: 7.4 What Are the Main Surface Circulation Patterns in Each Ocean Basin?
Essent’l Concept: 7.4 Specify the main surface circulation patterns in each ocean basin
OSLP: 1 The Earth has one big ocean with many features.
19) The El Niño Southern Oscillation can best be described as ________.
A) relative changes between two different atmospheric pressure systems at high altitude
B) the relationship between sea surface temperature and changing atmospheric pressure
C) tidal differences between coastal Peru and Darwin, Australia
D) variation in wind speed over the Pacific Ocean
E) wind speed and wind direction differences along the equator
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 7.4 What Are the Main Surface Circulation Patterns in Each Ocean Basin?
Essent’l Concept: 7.4 Specify the main surface circulation patterns in each ocean basin
OSLP: 1 The Earth has one big ocean with many features.
20) Thermohaline circulation is driven by ________.
A) density differences
B) the Coriolis effect
C) latitude
D) longitude
E) wind
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 7.5 How Do Deep-Ocean Currents Form?
Essent’l Concept: 7.5 Explain the origin and characteristics of deep-ocean currents
OSLP: 1 The Earth has one big ocean with many features.
9
21) Compared to Antarctic Bottom Water, North Atlantic Deep Water is ________.
A) colder
B) denser
C) higher in nutrients
D) higher in salinity
E) lower in oxygen
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 7.5 How Do Deep-Ocean Currents Form?
Essent’l Concept: 7.5 Explain the origin and characteristics of deep-ocean currents
OSLP: 1 The Earth has one big ocean with many features.
22) The arrangement of water masses in the southern Atlantic Ocean from the surface to the
bottom is ________.
A) Antarctic Bottom Water, Antarctic Intermediate Water, North Atlantic Deep Water
B) Antarctic Intermediate Water, Antarctic Bottom Water, North Atlantic Deep Water
C) Antarctic Intermediate Water, North Atlantic Deep Water, Antarctic Bottom Water
D) North Atlantic Deep Water, Antarctic Bottom Water, Antarctic Intermediate Water
E) North Atlantic Deep Water, Antarctic Intermediate Water, Antarctic Bottom Water
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Remembering/Understanding
Section: 7.5 How Do Deep-Ocean Currents Form?
Essent’l Concept: 7.5 Explain the origin and characteristics of deep-ocean currents
OSLP: 1 The Earth has one big ocean with many features.
23) Which of the following is not a source of deep water in the ocean?
A) Southern subpolar latitudes
B) Northern subpolar latitudes
C) Subtropical convergences
D) Arctic convergence
E) Antarctic convergence
Bloom’s Taxonomy: Applying/Analyzing
Section: 7.5 How Do Deep-Ocean Currents Form?
Essent’l Concept: 7.5 Explain the origin and characteristics of deep-ocean currents
OSLP: 1 The Earth has one big ocean with many features.
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