An Overview of Ocean Currents and How They Circulate

An Overview of Ocean Currents and How They Circulate Ocean currents are the vertical or horizontal movement of both surface and deep water throughout the world’s oceans. Currents normally move in a specific direction and aid significantly in the circulation of the Earth’s moisture, the resultant weather, and water pollution. Oceanic currents are found all over the globe and vary in size, importance, and strength. Some of the more prominent currents include the California and Humboldt Currents in the Pacific, the Gulf Stream and Labrador Current in the Atlantic, and the Indian Monsoon Current in the Indian Ocean. These are just a sampling of the seventeen major surface currents found in the world’s oceans. The Types and Causes of Ocean Currents In addition to their varying size and strength, ocean currents differ in type. They can be either surface or deep water. Surface currents are those found in the upper 400 meters (1,300 feet) of the ocean and make up about 10% of all the water in the ocean. Surface currents are mostly caused by the wind because it creates friction as it moves over the water. This friction then forces the water to move in a spiral pattern, creating gyres. In the northern hemisphere, gyres move clockwise; while in the southern  hemisphere, they spin counterclockwise. The speed of surface currents is greatest closer to the ocean’s surface and decreases at about 100 meters (328 ft) below the surface. Because surface currents travel over long distances, the Coriolis force also plays a role in their movement and deflects them, further aiding in the creation of their circular pattern. Finally, gravity plays a role in the movement of surface currents because the top of the ocean is uneven. Mounds in the water form in areas where the water meets land, where water is warmer, or where two currents converge. Gravity then pushes this water downslope on the mounds and creates currents. Deepwater currents, also called thermohaline circulation, are found below 400 meters and make up about 90% of the ocean. Like surface currents, gravity plays a role in the creation of deep water currents but these are mainly caused by density differences in the water. Density differences are a function of temperature and salinity. Warm water holds less salt than cold water so it is less dense and rises toward the surface while cold, salt-laden water sinks. As the warm water rises, the cold water is forced to rise through upwelling and fill the void left by the warm. By contrast, when the  cold water rises, it too leaves a void and the rising warm water is then forced, through downwelling, to descend and fill this empty space, creating thermohaline circulation. Thermohaline circulation is known as the Global Conveyor Belt because its circulation of warm and cold water acts as a submarine river and moves water throughout the ocean. Finally, seafloor topography and the shape of the ocean’s basins impact both surface and deep water currents as they restrict areas where water can move and funnel it into another. The Importance of Ocean Currents Because ocean currents circulate water worldwide, they have a significant impact on the movement of energy and moisture between the oceans and the atmosphere. As a result, they are important to the world’s weather. The Gulf Stream, for example, is a warm current that originates in the Gulf of Mexico and moves north toward Europe. Since it is full of warm water, the sea surface temperatures are warm, which keeps places like Europe warmer than other areas at similar latitudes. The Humboldt Current is another example of a current that affects weather. When this cold current is normally present off the coast of Chile and Peru, it creates extremely productive waters and keeps the coast cool and northern Chile arid. However, when it becomes disrupted, Chile’s climate is altered and it is believed that El Nià ±o plays a role in its disturbance. Like the movement of energy and moisture, debris can also get trapped and moved around the world via currents. This can be man-made which is significant to the formation of trash islands or natural such as icebergs. The Labrador Current, which flows south out of the Arctic Ocean along the coasts of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, is famous for moving icebergs into shipping lanes in the North Atlantic. Currents plan an important role in navigation as well. In addition to being able to avoid trash and icebergs, knowledge of currents is essential to the reduction of shipping costs and fuel consumption. Today, shipping companies and even sailing races often use currents to reduce time spent at sea. Finally, ocean currents are important to the distribution of the world’s sea life. Many species rely on currents to move them from one location to another whether it is for breeding or just simple movement over large areas. Ocean Currents as Alternative Energy Today, ocean currents are also gaining significance as a possible form of alternative energy. Because water is dense, it carries an enormous amount of energy that could possibly be captured and converted into a usable form through the use of water turbines. Currently, this is an experimental technology being tested by the United States, Japan, China, and some European Union countries. Whether ocean currents are used as alternative energy, to reduce shipping costs, or in their natural state to move species and weather worldwide, they are significant to geographers, meteorologists, and other scientists because they have a tremendous impact on the globe and earth-atmosphere relations.

Battle of Chattanooga

With the situation worsening, President Lincoln made the Military Division of the Mississippi and placed Major General Ulysses S. Grant in command of all Union armies in the West. Moving quickly, Grant relieved Rosecrans, replacing him with Major General George H. Thomas, and engineer Major General William F. Smith to open a supply line to Chattanooga. After making a successful landing at Browns Landing, west of the city, Smith was able to link up with Thomas and open a supply route in October, which was known as the Cracker Line. On the night of October 28 and 29, Bragg ordered Lieutenant General James Longstreet to sever the Cracker Line. Attacking at Wauhatchie, the Confederate general was very mad. With a way into Chattanooga open, Grant began reinforcing the Union position by sending Major General Joseph Hooker with the XI and XII Corps and then an additional four divisions under Major General William T. Sherman. While Union forces were growing, Bragg reduced his army by sending Longstreets force to Knoxville to attack a Union force that was under Major General Ambrose Burnside. Having consolidated his position, Grant began offensive operations on November 23, by ordering Thomas to go on from the city and take a string of hills near the foot of Missionary Ridge. The next day, Hooker was ordered to take Lookout Mountain. Crossing the Tennessee River, Hookers men found that the Confederates had failed to defend a valley between the river and mountain. Attacking through this opening, Hookers men succeeded in pushing the Confederates off the mountain. As the fighting ended around 3:00 PM, a fog descended on the mountain, which gave the battle the name of The Battle Above the Clouds. To the north of the city, Grant ordered Sherman to attack the north end of Missionary Ridge. Moving across the river, Sherman took what he believed was the north end of the ridge, but was actually Billy Goat Hill. His advance was stopped by Confederates under Major General Patrick Cleburne at Tunnel Hill. He thought that a frontal assault on Missionary Ridge to be suicidal, Grant planned to envelop Braggs line with Hooker attacking the south and Sherman from the north. To defend his position, Bragg had wanted three rows of rifle pits to be dug on Missionary Ridge, with artillery on the very top. Moving out the next day, both attacks met with little success as Shermans men were unable to break Cleburnes line and Hooker was delayed by burned bridges over Chattanooga Creek. As reports of slow progress arrived, Grant began to believe that Bragg was weakening his center to reinforce his sides. To test this, he ordered Thomas to have his men advance and take the first line of Confederate rifle pits on Missionary Ridge. Attacking, the Army of the Cumberland, which for weeks had suffered taunts about the defeat at Chickamauga, succeeded in driving the Confederates from their position. Halting as ordered, the Army of the Cumberland soon found itself taking heavy fire from the other two lines of rifle pits above. Without orders, the men started to move up the hill in order to continue the battle. Though originally mad at what he perceived to be a neglect for his orders, Grant moved to have the attack supported. On the ridge, Thomas men advanced steadily, aided by the fact that Braggs engineers had accidentally placed the artillery on the actual crest of the ridge, rather than the military crest. This mistake stopped the guns from being brought to bear on the attackers. In one of the wars most dramatic events, the Union soldiers surged up the hill, broke Braggs center, and put the Army of Tennessee to rout. This battle finally ended in a Union win, which they were of course happy about, but even happier because of their loss at Chickamauga, so this win made them feel like it made up for their other loss. The victory at Chattanooga cost the Union 753 men that were killed, 4,7220 of the men in their troops were injured and 349 missing. The Confederate’s casualties were listed as 361 killed, 2,160 wounded, and 4,146 captured and missing. The Battle of Chattanooga opened the door for the invasion of the Deep South and the capture of Atlanta in 1864. In addition, the battle destroyed the Army of Tennessee and forced Confederate President Jefferson Davis to relieve Bragg and replace him General Joseph E. Johnston. Following the battle, Bragg’s men went back south to Dalton, GA. Hooker was sent out to pursue the broken army, but was defeated by Cleburne at the Battle of Riggold Gap on November 27, 1863. The Battle of Chattanooga was the last time Grant fought in the West as he moved East to deal with Confederate General Robert E. Lee the following spring. ? Bibliography †¢www. wikipedia. org †¢www. wiki. answers. com/ †¢http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/The_Battle_Of_Chattanooga †¢http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/First_Battle_of_Chattanooga †¢http://www. nps. gov/hps/abpp/battles/tn024. htm †¢http://www. battlesforchattanooga. com/

Philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 46

Philosophy - Essay Example In spite of the fact that the argument which was described may be rather convincing at first sight, if one carefully analyzes it, one may come up with various fallacies that can be found in its logic. To begin with, one should note that the very first premise is faulty. It is an exaggeration to state that all bodies act to a certain end. Indeed, there is a vast array of objects that do not perform any specific function and, therefore, are not able to have a suitable end for its activity. Of course, it is possible to state that inanimate object should be rejected and the analysis should be limited to animal; however, life of the latter also does not strive to achieve a certain end. While there may be some goals which can be identified, from a general perspective, life of a person, life of a lion, life of a plant and even life of a rock (meaning its existence in one piece before it crumbles) does not serve any purpose or are designed to achieve a certain goal. They might find one is th e process of living, but it surely was not predetermined. The second premise is faulty because it operates with a notion that is rather difficult to design. On the one hand, intelligence is truly a characteristic of a highly developed creature which draws a line between humans and other animals. However, one can not dismiss the fact that even the simplest microorganisms feature some kind of intelligence. Of course, they are not able to think or consider abstract matter, but they are surely active and independent from their perspective. In addition to that, there is no single agreed mechanism of identifying intelligence as the latter might manifest itself in different forms. That is why claiming that some natural bodies are not intelligence is oversimplification. If we accept the validity of the above mentioned statement then the third premise should also

Managing Change and Innovation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Managing Change and Innovation - Essay Example But then again, are these measures sufficient? True enough, money, skilled workers, viable product and an aggressive marketing campaign will make a business (Henry & Mayle 2002). Combined with healthy competition, the result is a thriving conglomerate. Mixing this recipe a thousand times over results in several thriving conglomerates each vying for the top. What then is the missing ingredient that may bolster any business into longevity and resilience when pitted against several others like it? One businessman may claim that for a company to be able to keep abreast of the fast change in the market, it is important that the company keep close to the customer by creating a culture of openness and adopting a mindset of flexibility and inquiry (Brynteson 2010). Another argument is that technology must be taken full advantage of as it plays a key role in enabling radical new options and the implementation of bright new ideas (Tidd & Bessant 2009). â€Å"The only thing that does not chang e is change itself.† This phrase is true and that as a matter of fact, change is the only event not marred by its predilection to either occur or not. It is certain to ensue. By itself, one must then be vigilant and though complete preparation cannot be undertaken, it must still be carried on. Utmost diligence and keen foresight may be the only weapons that could hold off the crippling effects of constant evolution. Innovation as Catalyst for Corporate Dominance In business, this evolution is referred to as development or advancement or what is more commonly called â€Å"progress.† This is characterized as the continued instigation of ideas translated into product, process or theory. Often, this development is manipulated and taken advantage of by venture capitalists such that these inventions become their ticket in entering the global trading pool. Corporate officers  use management tools to dramatically increase the payoff from  innovation investments (Davila, Eps tein, & Shelton 2005). But in order to stay in the game, entrepreneurs cannot rely solely on the initial stance of their offer. It must be reinvented, upgraded and further developed so as to maximize its full potential. An outline of the guiding techniques for planning and implementation must be performed by enterprises to ascertain their performance vis-a-vis their goals (Carnall 2007). But then again, a particular object can only take on so much and time will come when it would eventually bow down to a more novel concept. As such, businessmen must employ any and all means necessary to make the most out of their offer. This is where marketing strategies and advertising campaign come to play. But a new advent in business management has emerged, such that promotional tactics and selling techniques have seemingly taken an abrupt exit, in the guise of innovation management (Trott 2008). Innovation Defined Innovation, from a business perspective, is defined by Mayle (2006) as a vehicle of growth. Innovation is the strategy necessary to remain an active player in the global market by continually revolutionizing the economic structure, creating new products and enhancing current business processes. Schumpeter (1943), in his work, has maintained that in order to stay in the economic playing field, entrepreneurs must constantly search for better ways to satisfy their patrons by offering the best quality in the lowest cost possible. In another, it is claimed that the primal objective of a corporate entity

I Am Someone :: English Literature Essays

I Am Someone I chose the poem "I Am Someone" by Annastasia Aressia. The author use simplistic words in this poem, which it is a multiple understanding meaning. Each reader can have an opinion on what it is being read, I will give details on the sentences that shows general meaning. Her choices of words were a few, but very mean full. For example, in example of line two, â€Å"I walked past a dead face.† She, the author, starts using these words by explaining that she is in a terrible life time, going on hard times in life, by this line at the beginning of the poem; she starts telling the reader that what the poem is all about, it has some kind of sadness ideas. In line three â€Å"even though the person was alive† she shows the irony of life and the order of life. She shows that for one thing to live another must die. Yet, on the other hand she also shows the important thing that a life means because it says that she does not says if she is alive or not; she still suffering from something, but she still awake. Also, in sentence number four and five she says some similarities â€Å"I saw my eyes in the mirror and cried at the sight† I think that she means that she looks back her self and she still in a bad moon. In lines thirteen and fourteen â€Å"when I thought about love, I got hit bad† She means that not everything is loosen there is always something that it not there but It could be at any time. In the following lines it starts to contradict the meaning of the poem by saying differences and opposite things such as lines twenty-one and twenty-two, â€Å"I realized I was strong when I didn’t cry when it hurt.† Means that not everything is over because she notices that she is really a person, as same as other people, strong, she is someone. Finally she explains that she founds who is she, what she was doing and she also noticed that it is a someone who has a personality by this words; â€Å"I thought I was lost forever when a friend found me.† Line twenty-five. The title of the poem is a very good point. The title describes the poem almost to perfection. The title â€Å"I am someone†, it shows the grand main points of a life.

Progress of Agriculture Before and After Independence of India Essay

Agriculture has been the backbone of the Indian economy and it will continue to remain so for a long time. It has to support almost 17 per cent of world population from 2. 3 per cent of world geographical area and 4. 2 per cent of world’s water resources. The economic reforms, initiated in the country during the early 1990s, have put the economy on a higher growth trajectory. Annual growth rate in GDP has accelerated from below 6 percent during the initial years of reforms to more than 8 percent in recent years. This happened mainly due to rapid growth in non-agriculture sector. The workforce engaged in agriculture between 1980-81 and 2006-07 witnessed a very small decline; from 60. 5 percent to 52 percent. The present cropping intensity of 137 per cent has registered an increase of only 26 per cent since 1950-51. The net sown area is 142 Mha. The net irrigated area was 58. 87 Mha in 2004-05. Presently, the total net irrigated area covers 45. 5 per cent of the net sown area, the remaining 54. 5 per cent is rainfed. The degradation of land and surface as well as ground water resources results in fast deterioration of soil health. Losses due to biotic (insect-pests, diseases, weeds) and abiotic (drought, salinity, heat, cold, etc. ) stresses account for about one-fourth of the value of agricultural produce. The storage, transportation, processing, value addition and marketing of farm produce need to be improved to enhance household food, nutrition and livelihood security. Indian agriculture is characterized by agro-ecological diversities in soil, rainfall, temperature, and cropping system. Besides favorable solar energy, the country receives about 3 trillion m3 of rainwater, 14 major, 44 medium and 55 minor rivers hare about 83 per cent of the drainage basin. About 210 billion m3 water is estimated to be available as ground water. Irrigation water is becoming a scarce commodity. Thus proper harvesting and efficient utilization of water is of great importance. Intensive cultivation as a result of introduction of high yielding varieties in the mid 1960’s required higher energy inputs and better management practices. Land preparation, harvesting, threshing and irrigation are the operations, which utilize most of the energy used in agriculture. The share of animate power in agriculture decreased from 92 er cent in 1950-51 to 20 per cent in 2000-01. For desired cropping intensity with timeliness in field operations, animate energy sources alone were no longer adequate. Farmers opted for mechanical power sources to supplement animate power. Average size of farm holdings gradually reduced from 2. 58 ha to 1. 57 ha (Table 1). Small and marginal farmers have limited resources especially in rain-fed regions where only animate power is used resulting in low productivity. Though agricultural production is high, the per hectare productivity is much lower than world average. There is an urgent need to increase productivity.

Meeting Of The Estates General - 1006 Words

Meeting of the Estates General I was at the Palace of Versailles located in France for a meeting. I am a 30 year old housewife in the 3rd estate. There are three classes; the Kings and Queens (1stestate), Noblemen (2nd estate), and the poor class (3rd estate). France is in a financial crisis mainly due to the King and Queen wanting to be richer. The meeting was held because we were going to find out which of the estates was going to get an increase in tax. The King decided that the 3rd estate was going to have the increase in taxes. We are the poorest. How will we ever pay the tax? I want a democracy so we can have a say on what’s going to affect our lives. Tennis Court Oath I was done with our King. He did not care about†¦show more content†¦I ran out of the house and went to the Bastille. When I got there people were surrounding the prison demanding gunpowder. The people wanted gunpowder to protect themselves from the Royal troops. No one wanted a government run by the Royal Troops. It would be worse than the Monarchy. All the guards refused to give us gunpowder. I knew this was the beginning of a democracy because people were starting to fight for what they believed in. The March on Versailles I finally had enough money to buy a loaf of bread. My family was never able to afford food so we were always hungry. We begged for food but no one else had money or food. Bread is usually 50 cents a loaf. Today the price was five dollars a loaf. The King and Queen raised prices to get more money. I could not afford this. That day hundreds of women and I marched 13 miles in pouring rain to the palace yelling â€Å"Bread.† We demanded that the price of bread go down. The group of women promised to stay at the palace all night until they saw the Queen. Finally we were able to break into the palace. We searched every room for the Queen. Then she came out of her room listening to our complaints and stories. Finally she told her husband to lower the price of bread for the people. This was a step towards democracy because the people were heard and the King and Queen reacted. Reign of Terror I stood there watching people