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The World's Currents Trivia Quiz

The ocean and its currents play a major role in our weather. What do you know about some of them and how they may affect our world?

A multiple-choice quiz by umpolo. Estimated time: 5 mins.

Author
umpolo

Time
5 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
190,721

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Tough

Avg Score
5 / 10

Plays
995

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. You just broke up with your girlfriend and have all the time in the world and want to take a trip. You get into a canoe without any paddles, and enough food and water, in Miami. You want to go to Seattle. How long does it take you to get there? Hint

100 years

50 years

500 years

10 years

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Question 2 of 10

2. There are seven major currents in the world. The currents in the Northern Hemisphere rotate clockwise, while the ones in the Southern Hemisphere rotate counter-clockwise. What is the term used to explain this phenomenon? Hint

Centripetal Force

Carlissian Force

Coriolis Effect

El Nino

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Question 3 of 10

3. What is the name of the current that flows by the Gulf of Alaska and brings cold water down the western coast of the USA? Hint

The North Pacific Current

The California Current

The North Equatorial Current

The Alaska Current

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Question 4 of 10

4. What is the pressure boundary layer between the oceans' surface layer and deep waters called? Hint

Pycnocline

Thermocline

Salinocline

The Water Cycle

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Question 5 of 10

5. The oceans move how much water each day? Hint

1.5 trillion cubic feet

2.3 trillion cubic meters

13 trillion cubic kilometers

1.4 trillion cubic kilometers

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Question 6 of 10

6. Which current is unusual in that it reverses its direction twice a year? Hint

The California Current

The Somali Current

The Gulf Stream

North Atlantic Drift

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Question 7 of 10

7. What is used to trace the world's currents? Hint

Yellow dye #5

Sonar

Suspended uranium

Tritium

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Question 8 of 10

8. Ocean water and currents affect climate.

True

False

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Question 9 of 10

9. What causes waves? Hint

The moon's gravity

Wind

Earth's rotation

Meteors

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Question 10 of 10

10. Continents cause currents to form almost enclosed circular patterns called what? Hint

Whirlpools

Subsurface currents

Gyres

Gyros

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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

Answer: 500 years

It takes a minimum of 500 years and up to a 1,000 years for the oceans' water to cycle itself globally. This is measured using radioactive tritium to study the speed of movement as well as the path that water takes in this journey. The currents you would follow are: the Gulf Stream, the Labrador Current, the Canary Current, down the Brazil Current, up the Peru Current, to the North Equatorial Current, to the Kuroshio Current, over to the North Pacific and finally down the California Current.

Answer: Coriolis Effect

The Coriolis Effect is named after a 19th Century scientist who described the inertial force that the earth's rotation caused on our oceans' currents as well as other moving objects.

3. What is the name of the current that flows by the Gulf of Alaska and brings cold water down the western coast of the USA?

Answer: The California Current

The California Current brings cold water from the Gulf of Alaska, down the coast of California, which all eventually cycles back to the Gulf via the North Equatorial Current, to the Kuroshio Current, and returns to the North Pacific Current.

4. What is the pressure boundary layer between the oceans' surface layer and deep waters called?

Answer: Pycnocline

Pycnocline means rapid change in density. Its depth is determined by temperature and salinity but is usually only a few hundred meters deep.

5. The oceans move how much water each day?

Answer: 1.4 trillion cubic kilometers

The Gulf Stream carries almost 100 times the volume of all the world's rivers.

6. Which current is unusual in that it reverses its direction twice a year?

Answer: The Somali Current

The Somali Current flows north from May to September, and south from November to March. This current is off the east coast of Africa. This phenomenon occurs because of the monsoon seasons. In the summer, the monsoon season causes deep upwelling in the area resulting in the current flowing north, but the weaker winter monsoon season allows the current to reverse itself.

7. What is used to trace the world's currents?

Answer: Tritium

Radioactive tritium is the perfect marker as it easily "seen" and its density allows it to travel at exactly the same speed as the water carrying it.

8. Ocean water and currents affect climate.

Answer: True

Half of the heat that reaches the earth from the sun is absorbed by the surface layer in the oceans. This causes the surface water to remain at a relatively stable temperature because it takes more energy to change the temperature of water than land or air. Therefore the earth's climate is affected by what happens in the ocean, e.g. El Nino.

9. What causes waves?

Answer: Wind

Wind pushes the surface water in front of it, creating waves. Waves are different from tides as waves are limited to movement of just the surface waters, while a tide is the vertical rise and fall of water level, mostly due to the moon's gravitational field.

10. Continents cause currents to form almost enclosed circular patterns called what?

Answer: Gyres

"A typical gyre displays four types of joined currents: two east-west aligned currents found respectively at the top and bottom ends of the gyre; and two boundary currents oriented north-south and flowing parallel to the continental margins." (Thanks physical geography.net http://www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/8q.html)

Source: Author umpolo

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor crisw before going online.
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