Topographic Rossby waves

High school (ages 12+)
Environment & Earth

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/topographic-rossby-waves

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What are topographic Rossby waves?They are giant invisible whirlpools that travel across the ocean, shaped by the Earth's rotation and the bumps on the seafloor.
2. How do topographic Rossby waves form?They form when big ocean currents move over deep ridges, seamounts, or trenches, causing the water to swirl.

Potential Vorticity: A conserved quantity in fluid dynamics that combines planetary vorticity, relative vorticity, and stratification effects.
Coriolis Parameter (f): A measure of the strength of the Coriolis effect, which varies with latitude and is proportional to the sine of latitude.
Dispersion Relation: An equation that relates the frequency and wavenumber (or wavelength) of a wave, describing how it propagates.