1. According to the net transport of the Ekman spiral, wind-driven water is dire

Question

1. According to the net transport of the Ekman spiral, wind-driven water is directed toward the center of a large oceanic current gyre. Why does the current not flow to the gyre’s center, but instead flows in a clockwise circular path about a gyre in the Northern Hemisphere?

2. How is wind-driven Ekman transport related to coastal upwelling and downwelling?

3. On a map of the world, plot the oceanographic equator, the six major wind belts, the current system of each ocean, and the main areas of surface convergence and divergence.

4. Why does a flow of water that is constant in volume transport per time increase its speed when it passes through a narrow opening?

Explanation / Answer

1.This is due to the Coriolis effect which subjects moving objects to a force to the right of their direction of motion in the northern hemisphere (and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere).

The Coriolis effect is the apparent deflection of moving objects when the motion is explained relative to a rotating reference frame. In a reference frame with clockwise rotation, the deflection is to the left of the motion of the object;

2. Coastal upwelling occurs where Ekman transport moves surface waters away from the coast;

when Ekman transport moves surface waters toward the coast, the water piles up and sinks which is known as coastal downwelling

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