Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
polar and tropical oceans on
Malleable
so as to encourage the inclusion of
colder water towards their planet's tropical oceans via oceanic circulation.
(c) The MM Party is probably using the banner B. Looking through a telescope,
followers of the MM Party notice that on their sister planet Earth there is
strong hydroclimatic feature that involves a marked seasonal reversal in
wind direction between areas on land and ocean. By listening in to the
radio broadcasts of weather services on Earth they learn this is called a
Monsoon. They notice that when the land surface is preferentially heated
by the shifting axis of rotation of the Sun there is a seasonal flow which
brings moisture over land that falls as precipitation in some months and
this is useful for growing agricultural crops. They also notice the effect is
greater when the flow is between a warm tropical ocean and large areas of
land that have a boundary which lies roughly parallel to the equator, e.g.,
the Indian Ocean and the continent of Asia. They are therefore suggesting
the continents on
Malleable
are arranged to favor such Monsoon flows.
(d) The RWD Party's argument for the REN Party forming a coalition with
them is quite strong. They point out that relative to the existing continental
distribution, their proposed redistribution will significantly reduce the
portion of
Malleable'
s tropical ocean in which the Trade Winds can estab-
lish 'warm pools. The REN Party is negotiating for a bigger proportion of
the available land area at the equator but is facing opposition from the more
conservative faction of the RWD Party who have grown up in cooler cli-
mates with marked seasons.
(e) The RTS Party's argument for the REN Party forming a coalition with them
is also reasonably convincing. They point out that their proposal will much
lessen the distance the Trade Winds have to establish 'warm pools' because of
the reduced distance between their four (as opposed to two) continents, and
because each proposed continent has more land area at the equator relative to
the existing continents. The REN party is negotiating for yet more continents
with more of their land area at the equator if they agree to form a coalition.
Answer 6
(a) Solar radiation heats the atmosphere from below, while it heats the oceans
from above. This results in a buoyant mixed layer on the surface of the
oceans which is typically 100-1000 m deep, and separated from the lower
ocean by the thermocline. The oceanic structure is fairly constant in time
in tropical regions, but the mixing layer changes depth with season at mid-
latitudes, being shallower and warmer in summer months when surface
heating is greater and the ensuing buoyancy of the surface water is greater.
(b) The student was a 'Northo-centralist' and was wrong. She should have said
'ocean currents tend to go away from the equator on the eastern sides of
continents, and towards the equator on the western side of continents.'
(c) The near-surface mixed layer circulation of the oceans is primarily influ-
enced by the prevailing low level wind fields. The ocean, being massive, in
