What is the direction of the subtropical gyres in the Southern Hemisphere?
Subtropical gyres Circulation around the high pressure is clockwise in the northern hemisphere and counterclockwise in the southern hemisphere, due to the Coriolis effect.
Is the Indian Ocean Gyre warm or cold?
The temperature in an ocean gyre depends on many factors, including the current. The Gulf Stream and summer monsoon current are warm currents. They are heated by the warm tropical waters of the Caribbean Sea (Gulf Stream) and equatorial Indian Ocean (summer monsoon current).
In which direction do gyres flow in the Southern Hemisphere?
In the Northern Hemisphere the gyres rotate to the right (clockwise), while in the Southern Hemisphere the gyres rotate to the left (counterclockwise). There are five major gyres in the oceans; the North Atlantic, South Atlantic, North Pacific, South Pacific, and Indian (Figure 9.1.
What is the subtropical gyre?
subtropical gyre, an area of anticyclonic ocean circulation that sits beneath a region of subtropical high pressure. The movement of ocean water within the Ekman layer of these gyres forces surface water to sink, giving rise to the subtropical convergence near 20°–30° latitude.
Is the South Pacific Gyre warm or cold?
The five most notable gyres are as follows: Indian Ocean Gyre, North Atlantic Gyre, North Pacific Gyre, South Atlantic Gyre, and South Pacific Gyre. Global gyres contain both cold water from the deep ocean and warm water from the surface currents.
Why do circulation gyres rotate anti clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere?
Gyres in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres are similar except that they rotate in opposite directions because the Coriolis effect acts in opposite directions in the two hemispheres. As more water is transported toward the center of the gyre, the surface slope of the mound becomes steeper.
Is the south Indian current warm or cold?
This warm water current runs south along the east coast of southern Africa from ~25°S to 40°S, and is the Western Boundary Current of the South Indian Ocean.
Why do subtropical gyres rotate in one direction and subpolar gyres rotate in the opposite direction?
Why do subtropical gyres rotate in one direction and subpolar gyres rotate in the opposite direction? Subtropical gyres are generated by the westerlies and trade winds, and subpolar gyres are generated by the polar easterlies. Which current is a gyre is deep, swift, and moves warm water?
How does a subtropical gyre form?
In oceanography, a subtropical gyre is a ring-like system of ocean currents rotating clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere caused by the Coriolis Effect. They generally form in large open ocean areas that lie between land masses.
What is the name of the southern Atlantic gyre?
The South Atlantic Gyre is the subtropical gyre in the south Atlantic Ocean. In the southern portion of the gyre, northwesterly (or southeastward-flowing) winds drive eastward-flowing currents that are difficult to distinguish from the northern boundary of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current.
Which current in the South Pacific Gyre is cold?
Peru Current
7. Peru Current (Cold): The cold current flowing along the western coast of South America from south to north is called Peru Current or Humboldt Current. This current is known as Peru coastal current near the coast while it is called Peru oceanic current off the coast.
What causes the South Pacific Gyre?
Earth’s trade winds and Coriolis force cause the ocean currents in South Pacific Ocean to circulate counterclockwise. The low levels of nutrients in the region result in extremely low primary productivity in the ocean surface and subsequently very low flux of organic material settling to the ocean floor as marine snow.
Where are the subtropical gyres located in the ocean?
Subtropical gyres circle areas beneath regions of high atmospheric pressure. These are placid ocean areas thousands of kilometers in diameter. Unlike coastal zones, these central regions are relatively stable.
How is the Indian Ocean gyre different from other gyres?
For this reason, tropical gyres tend to flow in a more east-west (instead of circular) pattern. The Indian Ocean Gyre is actually two distinct tropical gyres—the northern and southern Indian Ocean Gyres. Most of the world’s major gyres are subtropical gyres. These form between the polar and equatorial regions of Earth.
Where are the subpolar gyres in the northern hemisphere?
These surface currents are replaced by cold, nutrient-rich water in a process called upwelling. The Northern Hemisphere has several subpolar gyres, bounded by islands such as Iceland, Greenland, and the Aleutians; and the northern reaches of Scandinavia, Asia, and North America.
How is the South Pacific Gyre related to the equator?
Unlike the South Pacific Gyre, its extent is determine d largely by landmasses. The Equator forms its southern boundary, but it is bounded elsewhere by the Horn of Africa, Sri Lanka and the Indian subcontinent, and the Indonesian archipelago.