Marine Air and Sea Interactions Notes

1.  

2.  Water takes longer to
heat up and cool down
due to hydrogen bonds

3.  Warm air can hold more water vapor than cold air

4.  Uneven heating of the Earth’s surface leads to
wind/convection

5.  Global Wind Patterns:
o Doldrums
o Trade Winds
o Westerlies
o Easterlies

6.  The Coriolis Effect will cause northward and southward
traveling objects/wind to have a perceived curved
trajectory

7.  Global Conveyor Belt’s movement is based on salinity
and temperature differences.

8.  Six distinct air
masses (three in each
hemisphere) with
individual airflow
patterns

9.  Air rises from equator
(doldrums)
 Moves towards the poles
due to convection
 Sinks at 30 degrees
latitude due to cooling
and moisture loss
(creates deserts)
 Moves back towards the
equator
 Bends right as it heads
towards the equator
creating Trade winds

10.  Some air that rose at
the equator continues
towards the poles
 Bends to the right
creating the
Westerlies

11.  Warm air rises at 60
degrees latitude and
flows towards to the
poles
 It cools and descends
at the poles and
heads back towards
the equator, deflected
right to form the polar
easterlies

12.  Vertical motion of the air near the equator that releases
large amounts of heat and moisture into the atmosphere
o Strongly influences climate, weather, and the seasons
o Constantly shifting above and below the equator due to land
masses
o Atmosphere circulation symmetrical above and below the ITCZ
not the equator

14.  El Nino - A build up of warm water in the oceans near the
equator just east of Asia which leads to global weather
and climate changes
 Occurs every three to eight years

15.  Trade winds blow strongly along the equator, winds
blowing parallel to South American coast creates a rising
thermocline called an upwelling (rising of nutrient
rich/cold seawater)

16.  Upwelling makes the temperature of surface water
cooler
 Warm water builds up in Western Pacific
 Results in low pressure and high rainfall in Western
Pacific (Southeast Asia) and high pressure and low
rainfall in Eastern Pacific (Americas)

17.  Trade winds weaken, stop or reverse course (blow East)
 Warm water that is normally pushed west now spreads
out into the ocean and towards the East
 Thermocline deepens as a result and upwelling does not
reach surface with cold water, causing Eastern Pacific to
be warmer

18.  Since there is less of a temperature difference between the
Western and East Pacific, trade winds become even more
weak
 Results in more rain and warmer temperatures in the
Americas
 Arrives around Christmas time (called the current of the little
boy/Christ child, hence the name El Nino)
 Loss of nutrients from the loss of upwelling collapses the
fishing industry and marine ecosystems

19.  Causes the hottest
part of the
troposphere to move
1/3 around the world
 Leads to extensive
extreme weather
conditions, flooding,
tornados, and drought
 Destroys ecosystems

20.  After an El Nino, the normal conditions return in extreme
forms leading to colder than normal ocean conditions in
the Eastern Pacific

21.  Seasonal wind pattern changes caused by heating or
cooling on the continents that lead to predictable times of
massive rainfall or dry conditions
o Results in summers with significant rainfall and winters with very
little
o Caused by air heated by landmass rises and is replaced by
warm, moist air from the ocean, which in turn rises and causes
rainfall, Cycle reverses in winter

22.  Large rotating storm centers of low pressure air, with
converging winds at the center, known as hurricanes
(Asia – Typhoons)
 Two Types:
o Tropical –cyclones that form within a single atmospheric cell
o Extratropical – cycles that form in high latitudes, not as severe,
lead to “nor’easters”

23.  Moist winds get drawn
into a low pressure area
(air moves from high to
low pressure)
 The Coriolis Effect causes
the winds to spiral inward
and counter clockwise in
the Northern Hemisphere
 Warm air rises in the
center via convection
causing rain

24.  The formation of rain heats the atmosphere which
causes air pressure to continue to decrease and pull
more air into the system
 So long as there is moisture and heat, the process
continues to intensify, possibly into a hurricane

25. 1. The sun heats the ocean, the ocean heats the air, the
air rises
2. Warm air is less dense and therefore it rises and thus it
has a low pressure
3. As the moist air rises, it condense and forms clouds and
precipitation
4. Air rushes in to replace the air that rose, and brings with
it more heat and moisture
5. The air rushing in deflects to the right due to the Coriolis
Effect causing a counter-clockwise rotation
6. This leads to a tropical cyclone

26.  Area of warm water
 Winds affected by the Coriolis Effect (no hurricanes at
the equator nor can they cross the equator)
 A collection of storms

27.  Tropical Disturbance – a low pressure system with a
group of storms, little to no rotation
 Tropical Depression – A tropical cyclone with max
sustained winds up to 38 mph
 Tropical Storm – A tropical cyclone with max sustained
winds of 39-73 mph (naming stage)
 Hurricane – A tropical cyclone with max sustained winds
of 74-110 mph
 Major Hurricane – A tropical cyclone with max sustained
winds of 111+ mph, Category 3 or above

28.  Trade winds direct it
initially to the west, then
as it increases in latitude,
Westerlies will push it
East

29.  Categories of hurricanes are determined by wind speed
and air pressure. The resultant of which determine storm
surge and potential damage

30.  Named alphabetically
 Alternate boy/girl
 Retire names of the worst storms