Upwelling is a process in which currents bring deep, cold water to the surface of the ocean. Upwelling is a
result of winds and the rotation of the Earth
. The Earth rotates on its axis from west to east. Because of this rotation, winds tend to veer right in the northern hemisphere and left in the southern hemisphere.
What is upwelling how is it caused?
Winds blowing across the ocean surface often push water away from an area. When this occurs,
water rises up from beneath the surface to replace the diverging surface water
. This process is known as upwelling. … Conditions are optimal for upwelling along the coast when winds blow along the shore.
What are the effects of upwelling?
Water that rises to the surface as a result of upwelling is typically
colder and is rich in nutrients
. These nutrients “fertilize” surface waters, meaning that these surface waters often have high biological productivity. Therefore, good fishing grounds typically are found where upwelling is common.
What are the three main things that cause upwelling?
The three main drivers that work together to cause upwelling are
wind, Coriolis effect, and Ekman transport
.
What animals are affected by upwelling?
Because of upwelling nutrients, krill are abundant enough to feed the largest animals on earth,
baleen whales
, as well as myriad penguins, seals, and seabirds.
How does upwelling affect climate?
Again, deeper water comes to the surface bringing with it nutrients and
cooler water temperatures
. In some places, upwelling can even affect the weather. In places such as San Francisco, the cool water temperatures brought by upwelling can cause air temperatures to drop and result in even more dense fog.
What is the relationship between phytoplankton and upwelling?
The deeper water that rises to the surface during upwelling is
rich in nutrients
. These nutrients “fertilize” surface waters, encouraging the growth of plant life, including phytoplankton.
Is upwelling good or bad?
Deep ocean water is more nutrient-rich than surface water simply because things (nutrients, plankton carcasses, fish carcasses) in the ocean sink. Upwelling brings
those lost/sunk nutrients back
to the surface, which creates “blooms” of algae and zooplankton, which feed on those nutrients.
Where does strong upwelling occur?
Upwelling is most common along
the west coast of continents
(eastern sides of ocean basins). In the Northern Hemisphere, upwelling occurs along west coasts (e.g., coasts of California, Northwest Africa) when winds blow from the north (causing Ekman transport of surface water away from the shore).
How does downwelling occur?
Downwelling occurs
when the water on the surface of the sea becomes denser than the water beneath it and so it sinks
. Seawater gets denser when it gets colder or saltier. … Most downwelling happens at the poles.
Which statement explains what upwelling causes?
Which statement explains what upwelling causes?
Upwelling causes nutrients, minerals, and tiny organisms to rise
.
Does El Nino cause upwelling?
During an El Niño event, the easterly trade winds converging across the equatorial Pacific weaken. This in turn slows the ocean current that draws surface water away from the western coast of South America and reduces the
upwelling of cold
, nutrient–rich water from the deeper ocean, flattening out the thermocline.
What would happen if upwelling stopped?
What might happen to fisheries if upwelling stopped?
Fish population would die or lessen
. How is the direction of a surface current affected? … It carries warm water to colder water creating a convection current.
What is the importance of upwelling and downwelling?
Upwelling and downwelling describe
mass movements of the ocean
, which affect both surface and deep currents. These movements are essential in stirring the ocean, delivering oxygen to depth, distributing heat, and bringing nutrients to the surface.
What are two specific regions where significant upwelling occurs?
Most major upwelling regions are found along
the west coasts of continents
, such as off California, Peru, Namibia and South Africa. Large-scale upwelling off the west coast of Australia is suppressed due to the poleward-flowing Leeuwin Current.
What is found at upwelling zones that is the base of the food chain?
First, upwelling brings up cold, nutrient-rich waters to the surface, which encourage seaweed growth and support blooms of
phytoplankton
. The phytoplankton blooms form the ultimate energy base for large animal populations higher in the food chain, including fish, marine mammals and seabirds.
