This striking image, acquired by a NASA satellite, shows landand sea-surface tem
ID: 108836 • Letter: T
Question
This striking image, acquired by a NASA satellite, shows landand sea-surface temperature for a week in April. The eastern coast of North America is on the left, and the Atlantic Ocean is on the right. The color scale ranges from deep red (hot) to violet (cold). The Gulf Stream, bringing warm waters northward, stands out as a tongue of red and orange, extending from the Caribbean along the coasts of Florida and the Carolinas.
The Labrador Current can be seen in the purple to blue colors bringing cold water southward from Canada to Maine. What explanation can be given for the direction of this current, moving clockwise to the left, compared to the Gulf Stream Current, moving to the right off the North Carolina coast?
This striking image, acquired by a NASA satellite, shows landand sea-surface temperature for a week in April. The eastern coast of North America is on the left, and the Atlantic Ocean is on the right. The color scale ranges from deep red (hot) to violet (cold). The Gulf Stream, bringing warm waters northward, stands out as a tongue of red and orange, extending from the Caribbean along the coasts of Florida and the Carolinas.
Explanation / Answer
Don't be scared with the figure. Do you heard of Coriolis Effect?? It is a inertian force which acts on the moving objects (mainlly flids) and force them to bend. Due to the effect of this force all the moving air and water mass such as ocean currents tend to bend toward right at the northern hemesphere and to the left at the southern hemesphere. Gulf stream follw this rule and move right off the North Carolina coast. But the sea surface currents are mainly driven by the atmospheric circulation and the from subtropical low (30 degree lat) to sub polar high (60degree lat) air moves from west to east due to the coriolis effect and thus drive everythinh in the eastern direction. Thus the labrador current, which comes from the north are deflected by the wind and move clockwise to the left compared to the Gulf stream current.
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