← All questionsGS1 · 2019 · Geography ·Ocean Currents vs Water Masses
QUESTION 17
GS1
15 marks

How do ocean currents and water masses differ in their impacts on marine life and coastal environment? Give suitable examples.

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11 min
250 words
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What the examiner wants

Explain how ocean currents and water masses differently affect marine life and coasts, with examples.

Explain with examplesAnswer exactly what the question asks.

Demand-wise check

  1. 1Currents: move heat and nutrients; warm currents raise coastal temperature (Gulf Stream); cold currents create upwelling and fisheries (Peru/Humboldt), fog and coastal deserts (Atacama)≈50 words
  2. 2Water masses: bodies with distinct temperature and salinity; control stratification, oxygen, nutrient availability≈50 words
  3. 3Examples: El Niño's effect on Peru fisheries; Mediterranean outflow; Antarctic Bottom Water≈50 words
  4. 4Fishing grounds where warm and cold meet (Grand Banks)≈50 words

Open in about 30 words and close in about 30.

Answer plan

Define bothCurrents' effectsWater masses' effectsExamplesConclusion

Where marks usually go

  • Treating currents and water masses as the same
  • No examples, e.g. Humboldt upwelling, El Niño in Peru, Gulf Stream, Grand Banks

Draw this

  • World map with major currents and fishing grounds

Value addition

  • FactThe Peru current's upwelling supports one of the world's largest fisheries (anchoveta).FAO
  • FactThe Grand Banks off Newfoundland are rich because the warm Gulf Stream meets the cold Labrador Current.Standard geography