Material Detail

This tutorial provides an overview of some of the major factors that cause coastal and open ocean currents. Topics include longshore and rip currents, and upwelling events, as well as discussions of the Coriolis effect, the Ekman spiral, and thermohaline circulation. There is also information on methods for measuring currents and on how ocean currents affect human activities. The 'Roadmap to Resources' provides a set of links to other online resources on ocean currents, and there is also a set of lesson plans which integrates information presented in the Discovery Kit with data offerings from the Roadmap to Resources. These lesson plans focus on three major causes of ocean currents, and how mariners predict and compensate for the effects of coastal ocean currents while navigating their vessels. A references list is included.

Disciplines:

• Social Sciences  / Geography