Consider the following statements:
1. In the tropical zone, the western sections of the oceans are warmer than the eastern sections, owing to the influence of trade winds.
2. In the temperate zone, westerlies make the eastern sections of oceans warmer than the western sections.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Explanation
Statement 1 is correct: In the tropical zones (between 0° and 30° latitude), planetary Trade Winds blow from east to west. They continually push solar-heated warm surface water westward (forming warm pools on the western margins of oceans), while simultaneously inducing the upwelling of cold deep water along the eastern margins (e.g., California, Peru currents). Thus, western ocean sections are warmer than eastern sections.
Statement 2 is correct: In the temperate zones (between 30° and 60° latitude), the prevailing Westerlies blow from west to east. They drive warm surface waters across ocean basins toward the eastern sectors (such as the North Atlantic Drift warming the coastlines of Western Europe), making the eastern sections of temperate oceans warmer than the western sections.
Both statements accurately describe ocean-atmosphere dynamics — Option C.