APES Name ______Fall 2018 World Map – Thermohaline Circulation; Gyres; Upwelling

Key: 1. Strong winds, combined with the Earth’s rotation, sweep ocean waters into a spinning spiral called a gyre. Use the Internet to find the location of the Earth’s major gyres: the Indian Ocean gyre, the North Pacific Gyre, the South Pacific Gyre, the North Atlantic Gyre and the South Atlantic Gyre. Draw and label them on the map above. Using Module 11, explain how gyres influence climate, and provide an example:

2. Watch the TED-Ed “What really happens to the plastic you throw away” which includes a brief description of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, then use logic & the internet to help you pinpoint the location of the major “garbage patch” areas of the ocean. Circle and label these areas on the map above using a different color than you did for the locations of the gyres.

3. Using Module 11, draw the path of thermohaline circulation around the globe. Differentiate between surface and deep currents by using different colors and add to your map’s key. How does thermohaline circulation influence climate?

4. Coastal upwelling occurs in regions where winds push surface water off-shore and is replaced by deeper water. There are a number of smaller upwelling regions around the world, but the main coastal upwelling systems are found on the eastern side of the ocean basins, next to the subtropical gyres of the Atlantic and Pacific, and are associated with the cold eastern boundary current. Each support a rich ecosystem, and commercially important fisheries. These large marine ecosystems are increasingly under threat from over-exploitation, pollution and habitat modifications. Locate and label each of the following major upwelling currents:

a. The Canary Current upwelling system b. The Benguela Current upwelling system c. The California Current upwelling system d. The Peru Current upwelling system