1. Explain why upwellings on the lee side of continents at tropical latitudes fu

Question

1. Explain why upwellings on the lee side of continents at tropical latitudes function continuously while upwelling on the west side of North America is seasonal.

2. Why is there a net northward flow of surface water across the equator in the Atlantic Ocean but not in the Pacific Ocean?

3. How have tree-ring data helped describe climate and ocean current fluctuations in the North Pacific?

4. How can the cross section of a current and its average speed be used to calculate the volume of water transport?

Explanation / Answer

1. Upwelling is an oceanographic phenomenon that involves wind-driven motion of dense, cooler, and usually nutrient-rich water towards the ocean surface, replacing the warmer, nutrient-depleted surface water.

Leeward is the direction downwind (or downward) from the point of reference.

Upwelling intensity depends on wind strength (which is more in lee ward) and seasonal variability, and the vertical structure of the water, variations in the bottom bathymetry, and instabilities in the currents.

Upwelling on the west side of North America is seasonal because of the warmer ,nutrient-depleted surface water in other seasons.

2. Wind-driven surface currents travel polewards from the equatorial Atlantic Ocean, cooling in the route, and eventually sinking at high latitudes forming North Atlantic Deep Water.

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