Climate, currents of the Atlantic Ocean (briefly). Climate zones of the oceans
Atlantic Ocean- this is a “plot” of the water area of the World Ocean, which is limited on the southern side by Europe and Africa, on the western side by South and North America. A huge mass of salt water, beautiful views, rich flora and fauna, hundreds beautiful islands- this is all called the Atlantic Ocean.
Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean is considered the second largest component of our planet (in first place is ). Coastline clearly divided into water areas: seas, bays. Total area of the Atlantic Ocean, the river basins that flow into it are about 329.7 million km³ (this is 25% of the waters of the World Ocean).
The name of the ocean - Atlantis - was first found in the works of Herodotus (5th century BC). Then the prototype modern name recorded in the works of Pliny the Elder (1st century AD). It sounds like Oceanus Atlanticus, translated from ancient Greek as the Atlantic Ocean.
There are several versions of the etymology of the name of the ocean:
- in honor of the mythological titan Atlas (Atlas, which holds the entire vault of heaven);
- from the name of the Atlas Mountains (they are located in northern Africa);
- in honor of the mysterious and legendary continent of Atlantis. I immediately suggest you most interesting video- film “Battle of Civilizations - Find Atlantis”
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These are the versions and assumptions put forward about Atlantis and the mysterious Atlantean race.
As for the history of the formation of the ocean, scientists are sure that it arose due to the breakup of the missing supercontinent Pangea. It included 90% of the continental crust of our planet.
Atlantic Ocean on the world map
Every 600 million years, continental blocks unite, only to split apart again over time. It was as a result of this process that 160 thousand years ago arose Atlantic Ocean. Map currents shows that ocean waters move under the influence of cold and warm currents.
These are all the main currents of the Atlantic Ocean.
Atlantic Ocean Islands
The largest islands in the Atlantic Ocean are Ireland, Great Britain, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Haiti, and Newfoundland. They are located in the northern sector of the ocean. Their total area equals 700 t.km 2. Several groups of smaller islands are located in the eastern part of the ocean: the Canary Islands, . On the western side are the groups of the Lesser Antilles. Their archipelago creates a unique arc of land that surrounds the eastern sector of waters.
One cannot fail to mention one of the most beautiful islands of the Atlantic -.
Atlantic Ocean water temperature
The waters of the Atlantic Ocean are colder than the Pacific Ocean (due to the large extent of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge). The average surface water temperature is +16.9, but it varies depending on the season. In February, in the northern part of the water area and in August in the southern part, the lowest temperature is recorded, and the highest is observed in other months.
Atlantic ocean depth
What is the depth Atlantic Ocean ? The maximum depth of the Atlantic Ocean reaches 8742 m (recorded in the Puerto Rico Trench at 8742 m), and average depth is 3736 m. The Puerto Rico Trench is located on the border of the ocean waters and Caribbean Sea. Its length along the slopes of the Antilles range is 1200 km.
The area of the Atlantic Ocean is 91.66 million km². And a quarter of this territory falls on its seas. Here .
Atlantic Ocean: sharks and more
The underwater world of the Atlantic Ocean will amaze the imagination of any person with its richness and diversity. It is a unique ecosystem that unites many species of plants and animals.
The flora of the Atlantic Ocean is represented mainly by bottom vegetation (phytobenthos): green, red, brown algae, kelp, flowering plants such as poseidonia, philospadix.
Unique natural miracle, without exaggeration, can be called the Sargasso Sea, located in the Atlantic Ocean between 20° and 40° north latitude and 60° west longitude. On the surface of 70% of its water surface there are always brown algae - sargassum.
But most of the surface of the Atlantic Ocean is covered with phytoplankton (this unicellular algae). Its mass, depending on the area, varies from 1 to 100 mg/m3.
Inhabitants of the Atlantic Ocean beautiful and mysterious, because many of their species have not been fully studied. Lives in cold and temperate waters a large number of different representatives underwater fauna. For example, pinnipeds, whales, perch, flounder, cod, herring, shrimp, crustaceans, mollusks. Many animals are bipolar, that is, they have adapted to a comfortable existence in both cold and temperate zones (turtles, crabs, jellyfish, seals, whales, seals, mussels).
A special class consists of the inhabitants of the deep waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Corals, sponges, and echinoderm fish species amaze and impress the human eye.
What sharks are in the Atlantic Ocean Can they pay a visit to an unwary tourist? The number of species that live in the Atlantic exceeds a dozen. The most common are white, soup, blue, reef, basking, and sand sharks. But cases of attacks on people do not happen very often, and if they do happen, it is more often due to the provocations of the people themselves.
The first officially recorded shark attack on a human occurred on July 1, 1916, to Charles Van Sant on a New Jersey beach. But even then, residents of the resort town perceived this incident as an accident. Such tragedies began to be registered only in 1935. But shark scientists Nichols, Murphy and Lucas did not take the attacks lightly and began to intensively search for their specific causes. As a result, they created their “Year of the Shark” theory. She claimed that the attacks were motivated by a large migration of sharks. Since the beginning of 2013, according to the International Register of Shark Attacks, 55 cases of predator attacks on humans have been recorded in the world, 10 of which were fatal.
Bermuda Triangle
The Atlantic Ocean extends across all climate zones, so the climate of its expanses is quite diverse. Most of the ocean is tropical and temperate latitudes (compare with the Pacific Ocean). The climatic conditions here are determined by trade winds and westerly winds. Greatest strength winds reach the temperate latitudes of the southern Atlantic Ocean. Because of strong winds and storms at these latitudes were called the “roaring forties.”
In the North Atlantic region near the island. Iceland is the center of the birth of cyclones, which significantly affect the nature of everything Northern Hemisphere. That is why the North Atlantic is figuratively called the “weather kitchen” of Europe.
Climate features affect the properties of water masses. Average temperatures surface waters in the Atlantic Ocean is significantly lower than in the Pacific. This is due to the influence of cold waters and ice coming from the Arctic Ocean and Antarctica.
The salinity of water masses in some parts of the Atlantic is slightly higher than average, since a significant amount of moisture evaporating from the surface is carried by winds to nearby continents.
Currents in the Atlantic Ocean, due to its significant extent from north to south, have an almost meridional direction (Fig. 24). They are characterized by extreme activity in the movement of water masses from one latitude to another. At high latitudes there are many icebergs And drifting ice. Icebergs in the north are sliding off the island. Greenland, and in the south - from the continent of Antarctica. In the Northern Hemisphere, remnants of icebergs can sometimes be observed at the latitudes of the Azores and Bermuda Islands. After the sinking of the giant passenger ship Titanic, the International Ice Patrol was organized. Now the movement of icebergs is monitored using artificial Earth satellites. Information about their movements is promptly received by ships located in this part of the ocean.
Organic world The Atlantic Ocean is poorer in species composition than the Pacific Ocean. This is explained by the geological youth of the first and cooler climatic conditions. But, despite the limited number of species, there are quite a lot of fish and other marine animals in this ocean.
In the Atlantic Ocean, as in the Pacific, there are almost all geographical zones. Stand out for their originality natural complexes separate seas and bays. This especially applies to inland seas: Mediterranean. Black. Northern and Baltic. The organic world is richer in temperate latitudes . Most favorable conditions for the life of many species of fish developed in the northern and northwestern parts of the ocean, where the flows of warm and cold currents mix. Here they are of industrial importance cod (Fig. 25), herring, sea bass, mackerel (Fig. 26), capelin (Fig. 27).Material from the site
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Rice. 25. Cod |
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Rice. 26. Mackerel |
In the northern sub tropical zone is located known in the world for the uniqueness of its nature Sargasso Sea. This is a sea without shores, because its boundaries are formed by ocean currents. The Sargasso Sea got its name from huge cluster it contains sargassum algae (Fig. 28). Its waters have elevated temperature and salinity.
It is large in length (16 thousand km) from north to south - from Arctic to Antarctic latitudes and relatively small in width, especially in equatorial latitudes, where it does not exceed 2900 km. The average ocean depth is 3597 m, the maximum is 8742 m (Puerto Rico Trench). It was the Atlantic Ocean, with its peculiarities of configuration, age and bottom topography, that served as the basis for the development of the theory of continental drift - the theory of mobilism - the movement of lithospheric plates. It was formed as a result of the split of Pangea, and then the separation of Laurasia and Gondwana. The main processes of formation of the Atlantic occurred in Cretaceous period. The axial zone of the ocean is the “S”-shaped Mid-Atlantic Ridge, rising above the bottom of the basin by an average of 2000 m, and in Iceland, taking into account its surface part, by more than 4000 m. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is young, tectonic processes are active in it and to the present day, as evidenced by earthquakes, surface and underwater volcanism.
Unlike other oceans, there are significant areas of continental crust in the Atlantic (off the coast of Scotland, Greenland, the Blake Plateau, at the mouth of La Plata), which indicates the youth of the ocean.
In the Atlantic, as in other oceans, planetary morphostructures are distinguished: underwater continental margins (shelf, continental slope and continental foot), transition zones, mid-ocean ridges and the ocean floor with a series of basins.
Characteristic features of the Atlantic shelf are the presence of two types (glacial and normal) and unequal width off the coasts of North and South America, Europe and Africa.
The glacial shelf is confined to areas of development of modern and cover Quaternary glaciation; it is well developed in the northern part of the Atlantic, including the North and Baltic seas, and off the coast of Antarctica. The glacial shelf is characterized by great dissection and widespread development of glacial gouge and accumulative relief. To the south of the islands of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia on the American side and the English Channel on the European side, the normal glacial shelf is replaced. The surface of such a shelf is leveled by accumulative-abrasion processes, which from the beginning Quaternary period still have an impact on the bottom topography.
The African shelf is very narrow. Its depth is from 110 to 190 m. In the south (near Cape Town) it is terraced. Shelf South America narrow, with depths up to 90 m, leveled, gently sloping. In some places there are terraces and weakly defined underwater valleys of large rivers.
The continental slope of the normal shelf is leveled and moves towards the ocean either by a series of terraces with inclination angles of 1-2°, or by a steep ledge with inclination angles of 10-15°, for example, near the Florida and Yucatan peninsulas.
From Trinidad to the mouth of the Amazon, this is a dissected scarp with depths of up to 3500 m with two protrusions: the Guiana and Amazonian marginal plateaus. To the south there is a stepped ledge with blocky forms. Off the coast of Uruguay and Argentina, the slope has concave shape and is heavily dissected by canyons. The continental slope off the coast of Africa is blocky in nature with well-defined steps near the Cape Verde Islands and the delta of the river. Niger.
Transition zones are areas of junction of lithospheric plates with underthrust (subduction). They occupy a small place in the Atlantic Ocean.
One of these zones - a relic of the Tethys Ocean - is located in the Caribbean-Antilles basin and continues into the Mediterranean Sea. It is separated by the moving Atlantic. In the west, the Caribbean Sea plays the role of a marginal sea; the Greater and Lesser Antilles form island arcs, accompanied by deep-sea trenches - Puerto Rico (8742 m) and Cayman (7090 m). In the south of the ocean, the Scotia Sea borders on the east the South Antilles underwater ridge with chains of volcanic islands forming an arc (South Georgia, South Sandwich Islands, etc.). At the eastern foot of the ridge stretches a deep-sea trench - the South Sandwich (8264 m).
The mid-ocean ridge is the brightest geographical feature Atlantic Ocean.
The northernmost link of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge itself is the Reykjanes Ridge - at 58° N. w. limited by the sublatitudinal zone of the Gibbs faults. The ridge has a clear rift zone and flanks. U o. The Iceland ridge crest has steep scarps, and the Gibbs Fault is a double chain of trenches with structural offsets of up to 350 km.
District o. Iceland, the above-water part of the North Atlantic Ridge, is a very active rift structure passing through the entire island, with the manifestation of spreading, as evidenced by the basaltic composition of the entire shaft of the ridge, the youth of sedimentary rocks, the symmetry of anomalous magnetic lines, increased heat flow from the interior, the presence of numerous small earthquakes, ruptures of structures (transform faults), etc.
On a physical map, the pattern of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge can be traced along the islands: o. Iceland, on the eastern slope - the Azores, on the equator - o. St. Paul, southeast - Fr. Ascension, then Fr. St. Helena, Fr. Tristan da Cunha (between Cape Town and Cape Town) and Fr. Bouvet. After skirting Africa, the Mid-Atlantic Ridge connects with the ridges.
The northern part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (up to the Azores) has a width of 1100-1400 km and represents an arc convex to the east.
This arc is cut by transverse faults - Faraday (49° N), Maxwell (48° N), Humboldt (42° N), Kurchatov (41° N). The flanks of the ridge are gently sloping surfaces with block-block-ridge relief. Northeast of the Azores there are two ridges (Poliser and Mesyatseva). The Azores plateau is located at the site of a triple junction of plates (oceanic and two continental). South part The North Atlantic Ridge to the equator also looks like an arc, but its convex part faces the west. The width of the ridge here is 1600-1800 km, narrowing towards the equator to 900 km. Throughout its entire length, the rift zone and flanks are dissected by transform faults that look like trenches, some of which extend into neighboring basins of the ocean floor. The most well studied transform faults are Oceanographer, Atlantis, and Romany (at the equator). The displacement of structures in faults ranges from 50-550 km with a depth of up to 4500 m, and in the Romanche Trench - 7855 m.
South Atlantic Ridge from the equator to the island. Bouvet has a width of up to 900 km. Here, as well as in the North Atlantic, the rift zone with depths of 3500-4500 m is developed.
The faults of the southern part are Chain, Ascension, Rio Grande, Falkland. On the eastern flank, the mountains of Bagration, Kutuzov, and Bonaparte rise on underwater plateaus.
In Antarctic waters, the African-Antarctic Ridge is not wide - only 750 km, dissected by a series of transform faults.
A characteristic feature of the Atlantic is the fairly clear symmetry of the orographic structures of the bed. On both sides of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge there are basins with a flat bottom, successively replacing each other from north to south. They are separated by small underwater ridges, rapids, and rises (for example, Rio Grande, Whale), successively replacing each other from north to south.
In the extreme north-west there is the Labrador Basin, more than 4000 m deep - a flat abyssal plain with a thick two-kilometer sedimentary cover. Next - Newfoundland Basin ( maximum depth more than 5000 m), with an asymmetrical bottom structure: in the west it is a flat abyssal plain, in the east it is hilly.
The North American Basin is the largest in size. In the center is the Bermuda Plateau with a thick layer of sediment (up to 2 km). Revealed by drilling chalk deposits, however, geophysical data indicate that there is an even more ancient formation beneath them. Volcanic mountains form the base of the Bermuda Islands. The islands themselves are composed of coral limestones and represent a giant atoll, which is rare for the Atlantic Ocean.
To the south is the Guyana Basin, part of which is occupied by the Para Threshold. It can be assumed that the threshold is of accumulative origin and is associated with the accumulation of material from turbidity currents feeding on the huge removal of solid sediment from the Amazon (more than 1 billion tons per year).
Even further south is the Brazilian Basin with a ridge of seamounts, at the top of one of which is the only coral atoll in the South Atlantic, Rocas.
The largest basin in the South Atlantic is the African-Antarctic basin - from the Scotia Sea to the Kerguelen Rise, its length is 3500 miles, width - about 800 miles, maximum depth - 6972 m.
In the eastern part of the ocean floor there is also a series of basins, often separated by volcanic uplifts: in the area of the Azores Islands, near the Cape Verde Islands and the Cameroon fault. The basins of the eastern part (Iberian, Western European, Canary, Angolan, Cape) are characterized by the oceanic type earth's crust. The sedimentary cover of Jurassic and Cretaceous age has a thickness of 1-2 km.
The ridges are playing important role in the ocean as environmental barriers. The basins differ from each other in bottom sediments, soils, and a complex of minerals.
Bottom sediments
Among the bottom sediments of the Atlantic, the most common are foraminiferal silts, occupying about 65% of the ocean floor area, in second place are deep-sea red and red-brown clays (about 20%). Terrigenous deposits are widespread in the basins. The latter are especially characteristic of the Guinea and Argentine basins.
The sediments and bedrock of the ocean floor contain a wide range of minerals. The Atlantic Ocean is rich in oil and gas fields.
The most famous deposits are in the Gulf of Mexico, North Sea, Bay of Biscay and Guinea, Maracaibo lagoon, coastal regions near the Falkland (Malvinas) Islands. New gas fields are discovered every year: east coast USA, in the Caribbean and North Seas, etc. By 1980, 500 deposits were discovered on the shelf off the coast of the USA, and more than 100 in the North Sea. Deep-sea drilling is increasingly being used to search for minerals. In the Gulf of Mexico, for example, Glomar Challenger drilled and discovered a salt dome at a depth of 4000 m, and off the coast of Iceland, in an area with sea depths from 180 to 1100 m and a thick four-kilometer sediment cover, an oil-bearing well was drilled with a flow rate of 100-400 tons per hour. day.
In coastal waters with thick ancient and modern alluvium, there are deposits of gold, tin, and diamonds. Monazite sands are mined off the coast of Brazil. This is the world's largest deposit. There are known deposits of ilmenite and rutile off the coast of Florida (USA). The largest placers of ferromanganese nodules and phosphorite deposits belong to the regions of the South Atlantic.
Features of the climate of the Atlantic Ocean
The climate of the Atlantic Ocean is largely determined by its large meridional extent and the peculiarities of its formation. pressure field, unique configuration (water areas are larger in temperate latitudes than in equatorial-tropical latitudes). On the northern and southern outskirts there are huge regions of cooling and the formation of centers of high atmospheric pressure. Over the ocean waters also form permanent areas low blood pressure in equatorial and temperate latitudes and high blood pressure- in subtropical ones.
These are the Equatorial and Antarctic depressions, the Icelandic minimum, the North Atlantic (Azores) and the South Atlantic maximums. The position of these centers of action changes with the seasons: they shift towards the summer hemisphere.
Trade winds blow from subtropical highs towards the equator. The stability of the direction of these winds is up to 80% per year, the strength of the winds is more variable - from 1 to 7 points. In the temperate latitudes of both hemispheres, winds of westerly components dominate, with significant speeds, in Southern Hemisphere often turning into a storm - the so-called “roaring forties” latitudes.
Distribution atmospheric pressure and characteristics of air masses affect the nature of cloudiness, mode and amount atmospheric precipitation. Cloudiness over the ocean varies by zone: maximum amount clouds near the equator with a predominance of cumulus and cumulonimbus forms, the least cloudiness is in tropical and subtropical latitudes, V moderate amount clouds increase again - stratus and nimbostratus forms dominate here.
Very characteristic of the temperate latitudes of both hemispheres (especially the Northern) are dense fogs that form when warm air masses come into contact with cold ocean waters, as well as when the waters of cold and warm currents meet near the island. Newfoundland. Particularly thick summer fogs in this area make navigation difficult, especially since icebergs are often found there. In tropical latitudes, fogs are most likely around the Cape Verde Islands, where dust blown from the Sahara serves as condensation nuclei for atmospheric water vapor. Fogs are also common off the southwestern coast of Africa in the climate region of “wet” or “cold” deserts.
Very dangerous phenomenon in tropical latitudes of the ocean - tropical cyclones causing hurricane winds and heavy showers. Tropical cyclones often develop from small depressions moving with African continent to the Atlantic Ocean. Gaining strength, they become especially dangerous for the islands of the West Indies and southern North America.
Temperature
On the surface, the Atlantic Ocean is generally colder than the Indian Ocean due to its large extent from north to south, its small width near the equator, and its wide connection with.
The average surface water is 16.9°C (according to other sources - 16.53°C), while in the Pacific - 19.1°C, Indian - 17°C. Is different average temperature thickness of the entire water mass of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Mainly due to the Gulf Stream, the average water temperature of the North Atlantic (6.3°C) is slightly higher than the South Atlantic (5.6°C).
Seasonal temperature changes are also clearly visible. The most low temperature is recorded in the north and in the south of the ocean, and the highest is the other way around. However annual amplitude temperatures at the equator are no more than 3°C, in subtropical and temperate latitudes - 5-8°C, in subpolar latitudes - about 4°C. Daily fluctuations in the temperature of the surface layer are even smaller - on average 0.4-0.5°C.
The horizontal temperature gradient of the surface layer is significant where cold and warm currents meet, such as the East Greenland and Irminger currents, where a temperature difference of 7°C over a distance of 20-30 km is common.
Annual temperature fluctuations are clearly visible in the surface layer up to 300-400 m.
Salinity
The Atlantic Ocean is the saltiest of all. The salt content in the waters of the Atlantic averages 35.4%, which is higher than in other oceans.
The highest salinity is observed in tropical latitudes (according to Gembel) - 37.9% o, in the North Atlantic between 20 and 30 ° C. latitude, in the South - between 20 and 25° S. w. Trade wind circulation dominates here, there is little precipitation, and evaporation amounts to a layer of 3 m. Almost no fresh water comes from the land. Salinity is also slightly higher than average in the temperate latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, where the waters of the North Atlantic Current flow. Salinity in equatorial latitudes is 35% o. There is a change in salinity with depth: at a depth of 100-200 m it is 35.4% o, which is associated with the subsurface Lomonosov Current. It has been established that the salinity of the surface layer does not coincide in some cases with the salinity at depth.
Sharp changes in salt content are also observed when currents of different temperatures meet. For example, south of. In Newfoundland, when the Gulf Stream and Labrador Current meet at a short distance, salinity drops from 35% o to 31-32% o.
The existence of underground fresh water in the Atlantic Ocean - submarine springs (according to I. S. Zetsker) is an interesting feature of it. One of them has long been known to sailors; it is located east of the Florida Peninsula, where ships replenish supplies fresh water. This is a 90-meter “fresh window” in the salty ocean. Happening here typical phenomenon unloading of an underground source in the area of tectonic disturbances or areas of karst development. When the pressure groundwater exceeds the pressure of the sea water column, unloading occurs - the outpouring of groundwater to the surface. A well was recently drilled on the continental slope of the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida. When drilling a well, a column of fresh water 9 m high burst out from a depth of 250 m. The search and study of submarine sources is just beginning.
Optical properties of water
Transparency, on which the illumination of the bottom and the nature of heating of the surface layer depend, is the main indicator of optical properties. It varies over a wide range, which is why the albedo of the water also changes.
Transparency Sargasso Sea- 67 m, Mediterranean - 50, Black - 25, Northern and Baltic - 13-18 m. The transparency of the ocean waters far from the shores, in the tropics, is 65 m. The optical structure of the waters of the tropical latitudes of the Atlantic is especially interesting. The waters here are characterized by a three-layer structure: an upper mixed layer, a layer of reduced transparency and deep transparent ones. Depending on hydrological conditions, the thickness, intensity and a number of features of these layers change in time and space. The depth of the layer of maximum transparency decreases from 100 m off the coast of North Africa to 20 meters off the coast of South America. This is due to the turbidity of the waters at the mouth of the Amazon. The waters of the central part of the ocean are homogeneous and transparent. The transparency structure also changes in the upwelling zone off the coast South Africa due to the increased content of plankton. The boundaries between layers with different opacity are often blurred and indistinct. Against the mouth of the river. Congo also has a three-layer profile; to the north and south there is a two-layer profile. In the Guinean sector of the Atlantic, the picture is the same as at the mouth of the Amazon: a lot of solid particles are carried into the ocean by rivers, in particular the river. Congo. Here is a place where currents converge and diverge; deep clear waters rise along the continental slope.
Water dynamics
They learned about existence in the ocean relatively recently; even the Gulf Stream became known only at the beginning of the 16th century.
In the Atlantic Ocean there are currents of various origins: drift - North and South Trade Winds, Western Drift or Western Winds(with a flow rate of 200 sverdrup), drainage (Florida), tidal. In the Bay of Fundy, for example, the tide level reaches record levels (up to 18 meters). There are also density countercurrents (for example, the Lomonosov countercurrent is subsurface).
Powerful surface currents in tropical latitudes of the ocean are caused by trade winds. These are the Northern and Southern Trade Winds, moving from east to west. U eastern shores both Americas they branch out. IN summer time The inter-trade wind countercurrent manifests itself most effectively, its axis moves from 3° to 8° N. w. The Northern Trade Wind Current near the Antilles divides into branches. One goes to the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, the other - the Antilles branch merges with the Florida branch and, leaving the gulf, forms a giant warm Gulf Stream current. This current, together with its branches, has a length of more than 10 thousand km, the maximum flow is 90 sverdrup, the minimum is 60, the average is 69. The water flow in the Gulf Stream is 1.5-2 times greater than that of the largest currents of the Pacific and Indian Oceans - Kuroshio and Somalia. The width of the stream is 75-100 km, the depth is up to 1000 m, the speed of movement is up to 10 km/h. The Gulf Stream boundary is determined by an isotherm of 15°C at a depth of 200 m. Salinity is more than 35% o, in the southern branch - 35.1% o. The main flow reaches 55° W. e. Before this segment, there is almost no transformation of the water mass on the surface; at a depth of 100-300 m, the properties of the flow do not change at all. At Cape Hatteras (Gateras), the waters of the Gulf Stream are divided into a series of narrow, strongly meandering streams. One of them, with a consumption of approximately 50 sverdrup, goes to the Newfoundland Bank. From 41° W. The North Atlantic Current begins. Rings are observed in it - vortices moving in the direction of the general movement of water.
The North Atlantic Current also “branches”; the Portuguese branch separates from it, which merges with the Canary Current. In the north, the Norwegian branch is formed and then the North Cape. The Irminger Current departs to the northwest, meeting the cold runoff East Greenland Current. The West Greenland Current in the south connects with the Labrador Current, which, mixing with the warm current, leads to deterioration meteorological conditions in the Newfoundland Bank area. The water temperature in January is 0°C, in July - 12°C. The Labrador Current often carries icebergs into the ocean south of Greenland.
The Southern Trade Wind Current off the coast of Brazil bifurcates into the Guiana Current and the Brazilian Current, and to the north the Guiana Current merges with the North Trade Wind Current. Brazilian in the south about 40° S. w. connects with the Western Winds Current, from which the cold Benguela Current departs to the coast of Africa. It merges with the South Trade Wind, and the southern ring of currents closes. The cold Falklands approaches the Brazilian from the south.
The Lomonosov countercurrent, discovered in the 60s of the 20th century, has a direction from west to east, passes at a depth of 300-500 m in the form of a huge river several hundred kilometers wide.
In the southern part of the North Trade Wind Current, anticyclonic vortices were discovered with a movement speed of 5.5 cm/sec. In the ocean there are eddies of large diameters - 100-300 km (medium ones have a diameter of 50 km, small ones - 30 km). The discovery of these vortices, called synoptic vortices, has great importance for plotting the course of ships. In drawing up maps indicating the direction and speed of movement of synoptic eddies, great assistance is provided by artificial satellites Earth.
The dynamics of ocean waters have enormous energy potential, which has hardly been used to date. And although the ocean is in most cases less concentrated and less convenient to use than the energy of rivers, scientists believe that these are inexhaustible resources, constantly renewable. Tidal energy comes first.
The first successfully operating tidal water mills were built in England (Wales) back in the 10th-11th centuries. Since then, they have been constantly built on the shores of Europe and North America. However, serious energy projects appeared in the 20s of the XX century. The possibilities of using tides as energy sources are most likely off the coasts of France, Great Britain, and the USA. The first small-scale tidal power plants are already in operation.
Work is underway to harness the thermal energy of the oceans. The surface layer of water in tropical latitudes can heat up with seasonal variations being insignificant. At a depth (300-500 m) the water temperature is only 8-10°C. Even more sharp drop in upwelling zones. The temperature difference can be used to generate energy in water-steam turbines. The first ocean experimental thermal station with a capacity of 7 MW was created by French scientists near Abidjan (Côte d'Ivoire).
Climate of the Atlantic Ocean. The climate of the Atlantic Ocean is varied, as it lies in all climate zones. The widest part of the ocean lies in tropical and temperate latitudes. Trade winds and westerly winds of temperate latitudes blow in these latitudes. In winter, storms often occur in temperate latitudes; in the Southern Hemisphere, they rage in all seasons of the year. Climate features affect the properties of water masses. The surface water temperature here is on average significantly lower than in the Pacific and Indian oceans. This is explained by the cooling effect of water and ice carried out from the Arctic Ocean and Antarctica, as well as intense mixing of water masses. Noticeable differences between water and air temperatures in a number of areas of the Atlantic are caused by the formation heavy fogs The salinity of water masses in some areas of the ocean is higher than average, since a significant part of the evaporated moisture, due to the relative narrowness of the ocean, is transported by winds to neighboring continents.
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“The World Ocean Lesson” - A journey through the world’s oceans. This lesson corresponds to psychological and age characteristics children. 2009 R. River. Baikal is the deepest lake in the world. Have you heard about water? Author: T.P. Bulavinova teacher primary classes highest category. The structure of the river. Solve the puzzle. It will give you something to drink and refresh. Check it out.
“Geography lesson World Ocean” - Name and show oceans, seas, straits, islands, peninsulas, archipelagos. Task: find and show on the map. Physical map of the world and Russia; globe; atlases. Learning new material. Equipment: 1. Survey. -What is the hydrosphere? -Describe the diagram of the World Water Cycle. Homework: paragraph 24; create a crossword puzzle on the topic of the lesson.
As in the Pacific Ocean, north and south of the central regions climate and waters of the Atlantic Ocean are getting colder. The heterogeneity of the ocean climate also affects the shores of the Atlantic (Fig. 34).
In the east and west of one geographical zone The climate and waters are also somewhat different. Yes, in the western part temperate zone they are colder than in the eastern part. In the west there is less precipitation. This phenomenon is explained by the circulation of the atmosphere and surface waters, which is closely related to the Icelandic minimum, i.e. area of low atmospheric pressure. In the tropical zone, on the contrary, in the west the climate is warmer and more humid than in the east. The waters are also warmer in the west (Fig. 35). This is due to the movement of air and water around areas of high atmospheric pressure - North Atlantic High in the Northern Hemisphere and South Atlantic High in the Southern Hemisphere.
Significantly increase the temperature difference between the western and eastern parts of the tropical zone sea currents (Fig. 36).
Main role plays here Gulf Stream. This is the largest and most powerful warm current among all the warm currents of the World Ocean. It carries 80 times more water than all the rivers on the globe. In its southern part, the Gulf Stream has a width of 75 km, thickness water flow here it reaches 700-800 m. The water mass (its temperature is about +28 ° C) moves at a speed of almost 10 km/h. The main source of food for the Gulf Stream is the Caribbean Sea. A huge mass of water, which trade wind currents bring here, ends up in the Gulf of Mexico. The water level here is rising, and its excess flows through the Straits of Florida into the open ocean. This is how a current arises, the name of which means “bay current.”
Gulf Stream with Canary And Northern Trade Wind Currents forms a huge circulation of currents in the northern tropical zone. Water masses in it, under the influence of atmospheric circulation, as well as in the Pacific Ocean, they move clockwise. At the same time, like the Pacific Ocean in the southern tropical zone of the Atlantic, sea currents - Western Winds And South Passatnoye - move in a counterclockwise direction.
The Atlantic Ocean is very salty, although the salinity of the waters varies in different parts of it. It is highest in tropical latitudes - 37.5 ‰. In places where they flow into the ocean powerful rivers, the salinity of ocean waters decreases to 18 ‰, and in the relatively shallow Baltic Sea it is only 8 ‰. Material from the site http://worldofschool.ru
The waters of the Atlantic are the most transparent among the waters of the World Ocean. So, in the marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean - Weddell Sea- objects are visible at a depth of 79 m. This is a kind of record for water transparency. One of the most transparent seas The world's oceans are also Sargasso Sea. Objects are visible in it at a depth of 66.5 m.