The Dynamic

Ocean
Ch. 16

Currents move water from place to place

There are 2 kinds of

currents

First kind of current:

1.Surface currents: move on or near

surface of ocean
Most are caused by wind
Friction between wind blown air and the
water surface causes the water to move
Controlled by wind belts, earths
rotational effect and location of
continents

Surface Currents

What direction do most currents

NORTH of the equator move?

CLOCKWISE!

What direction do most currents

SOUTH of the equator move?

COUNTERCLOCKWISE!

 Western side of ocean has

warm currents traveling
from equator
Eastern side of ocean has
cool currents moving
toward equator

Examples of warm water

currents:
Gulf Stream
Brazil
Kuroshio

Examples of cold water

currents:
California current
Canary current
Labrador current

Second kind of current:

2. Deep density currents:
cold, dense currents that
flow very slowly beneath
surface of ocean
Occurs when denser
seawater moves towards an
area of less dense seawater

 In the deep ocean, denser water

around the Poles sinks and travels
along the ocean floor toward the
equator.
At the same time, less dense water
at the equator rises and moves
towards the poles along the
surface.
These two events form a continuous
cycle that circulate ocean water.

WAVE
PERIODIC UP AND DOWN
MOVEMENT OF OCEAN WATER

Wave Generating forces

WIND
TIDES
Sometimes Earthquakes

Features of a wave
CREST
WAVE HEIGHT

TROUGH
WAVELENGTH

Wavelength
Distance from one
crest to another

Wave Height
Difference between
crest to trough

Period:
The time it takes one
wavelength to pass a
given point

Speed= wavelength
period

Test your knowledge

What is the speed of a wave 24 meters
long with a period of 4 seconds?

Speed = 24 meters= 6 meters/sec

4 sec

Observe an animatio
n of wave motion.

Swells
Group of long, rolling waves all
about the same size
Come at regular intervals

Height of wind-formed waves

depends on 3 things
1. Length of time the wind blows
2. Speed of wind
3. FETCH: length of open water
over which the wind blows in
a single direction

 As waves approach shore, the water is

so shallow that they touch bottom.
This happens at a depth of one-half the
wavelength. As the wave scrapes
bottom, the lower part of wave slows
down and upper par moves ahead. The
crest falls over and breaks onto the
beach.

Observe waves as they

break on the shore.

MAVERICKS

Waves and the shore:

Breakers foamy mass of water that
washes onto shore
Undertow
Long shore current
Tsunamis
Rip current strong surface currents that
flow away from the beach; hazard to
swimmers

TSUNAMIS

TSUNAMIS
Tidal waves
More appropriately called Seismic
sea waves
Long wavelength
Long periods
Low height until they reach land!

http://www.geophys.washington.edu/tsunami/gene
ral/physics/characteristics.html

Rip Currents

What To Do if Caught in a Rip Current

What should you do if you are caught in a rip current?
First, REMAIN CALM! Signal to someone on the
beach, a lifeguard or a friend, that you need help. If
you are a strong swimmer, try to swim parallel to the
beach until you are out of the rip current. Then swim
toward the shore. Never try to swim back to shore
directly against the Rip current, as this can exhaust
and drown even the strongest swimmer. For the less
confident swimmers, wade sideways parallel to the
beach until you are out of the Rips pull, then swim
back to shore.

Wind and Erosion

Wind Deposition
when the wind stops, it drops
its load

Dunes:

blown sand

mounds of wind

form where soil is dry and

unprotected and the wind is
strong

How dunes form: when a

barrier slows the speed of the
wind, it causes sand to
accumulate on the sheltered
side, sand accumulates on
exposed side, and eventually
buries the barrier

Wind causes saltation, or jumping grains,

on the windward side of sand dunes

slipface

windward

crest

barchan dune:

crescent shaped, open side

faces away from wind,
common, found in deserts

parabolic dune:

crescent-shaped, open sided

faces into the wind

transverse dune: series of

ridges of sand in long, wave-like

patterns- form at a right angle
to the wind

longitudinal dune: ridges

of sand in long, wave-like
patterns- lie parallel to the
wind direction

This Landsat image reveals sand dunes advancing on Nouakchott, the

capital of Mauritania.

Alien dunes. NASA's Mars Global Surveyor

photographed these sand dunes on Mars

Shoreline erosion is caused by:

1. waves weathering rock
2. chemical weathering
3. storms

sea stack:

offshore,
isolated columns of rock which
was once connected to the
headland

sea cliff:

high, nearly
vertical,steep
structure that
forms where
waves strike
directly
against the
rock

terraces: a nearly level

platform that is found at the
base of a sea cliff
wave-cut: formed when a sea
cliff is worn back
wave-built: forms when
eroded material is deposited

sea
cave:

large holes
found in a
sea cliff

spit: long, narrow deposit of sand

connected at one end to the shore

The formation of a spit by sand movement in response to longshore

currents.

tombolo:

deposit
that
connects an
offshore
island to
the
mainland

sea arch:

enlarged sea cave,

produced when waves cut
through the headland

Observe an animation
showing the formati
on of an arch.

Evolution of Shoreline Features

Examine an example
of wave erosion.

beach:

a deposit of sand or
rock fragments along an ocean
shore
form where amount of
fragments moving toward shore
is greater than amount moving
away

size and kinds of materials found on

beaches vary widely
Boulders

more than 256mm

Cobbles

64 to 256 mm

Gravel

2 to 64 mm

Sand

.06 to 2 mm

Silt

less than 0.06mm

A close-up view
of ordinary sand

Atlantic Coast
white sand with quartz and feldspar
erosion from Appalachian Mountains

Hawaii
black/gray sand
erosion from dark volcanic rock

each wave reaching the shore moves

individual sand grains forward
total action of thousands of waves
moves sand a great distance sand
piled up on shore producing sloping
surface

berm: raised section at the

back of the beach

results from high tides or

large storm waves

In winter, large storm waves

remove sand from the beach
and deposit it offshore

sandbar: long ridge of

sand deposited offshore

In summer, waves return the

sand to the beach

LONGSHORE CURRENT

SWASH

BACKWASH

direction of sand drift

BEACH

the direction a wave approaches

the shore determines sand grain
movement

swash: motion of water up a beach

backwash: water that runs back
down the beach under the next wave
strong backwash is called an

undertow

longshore current:

movement of water parallel to and

near the shore
transport sand in direction
parallel to shore
may produce a spit or a tombolos

Processes that Affect Coastlines

1. long term rising and falling of
the sea level
The sea level is now rising at a average
rate of about 1mm/yr

2.long term uplifting or sinking of

land that borders water

SUBMERGENT COASTLINES

estuary:

bay where
freshwater and saltwater mix
forms when sea level rises and
sinks

EMERGENT COASTLINES

barrier islands: long, narrow

offshore ridges of sand many over

100 km long
lie parallel to the shore about 3 km
to 30 km offshore
lagoon: narrow region of shallow
water between barrier islands and
shore

sometimes a hazardous place to

live because it is severely eroded
by storms

Barrier Islands

Stabilizing the Shore

Protective Structures
Groins, breakwaters, and seawalls are
some structures built to protect a
coast from erosion or to prevent the
movement of sand along a beach.
Beach Nourishment
Beach nourishment is the addition of
large quantities of sand to the beach
system.

Miami Beach Before and After

Beach Nourishment

PRESERVING THE COASTLINE

(two things that damage the coastline)

1. recreation, commercial
fishing, shipping, industrial and
residential development
2. pollution