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The cyclonic winds cause a divergence in the surface water in the Ekman layer, that turn requires upwelling of deeper water to maintain continuity. [15] Artificial upwelling is produced by devices that use ocean wave energy or ocean thermal energy conversion to pump water to the surface. Ocean wind turbines are also known to produce upwellings ...
This also creates ocean upwelling off the coasts of Peru and Ecuador and brings nutrient-rich cold water to the surface, increasing fishing stocks. [10] The western side of the equatorial Pacific is characterized by warm, wet, low-pressure weather as the collected moisture is dumped in the form of typhoons and thunderstorms. The ocean is some ...
There is a band of siliceous ooze that is the result of enhanced equatorial upwelling in Pacific Ocean sediments below the North Equatorial Current. In the subpolar North Pacific, upwelling occurs along the eastern and western sides of the basin from the Alaska current and the Oyashio Current. Siliceous ooze is present along the seafloor in ...
Ekman suction is the component of Ekman transport that results in areas of upwelling due to the divergence of water. [9] Returning to the concept of mass conservation, any water displaced by Ekman transport must be replenished.
In addition, the areas of surface ocean currents move somewhat with the seasons; this is most notable in equatorial currents. Deep ocean basins generally have a non-symmetric surface current, in that the eastern equator-ward flowing branch is broad and diffuse whereas the pole-ward flowing western boundary current is relatively narrow.
Due to upwelling and downwelling, which are both wind-driven, mixing of different layers can occur through the rise of cold nutrient-rich and sinking of warm water, respectively. Generally, layers are based on water density: heavier, and hence denser, water is below the lighter water, representing a stable stratification.
Water becomes less dense as its temperature increases and the distance between its molecules expands, but more dense as the salinity increases, since there is a larger mass of salts dissolved within that water. [15] Further, while fresh water is at its most dense at 4 °C, seawater only gets denser as it cools, up until it reaches the freezing ...
Additionally, extensive upwelling of colder sub-surface waters occurs, caused by the prevailing northwesterly winds acting through the Ekman Effect. The winds drive surface water to the right of the wind flow, that is offshore, which draws water up from below to replace it. The upwelling further cools the already cool California Current.