Talk:Intertropical Convergence Zone

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2004 February 15 --

"Advective (horizontal) motion is due entirely to air replacing that carried aloft by convection, is a languorous process at best."

Note that the second 'is' is superfluous; the 'is' following the word 'motion' is the verb in the sentence. This sentence is correct as it currently stands in the article.

Denni 00:27, 2004 Feb 16 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] ITCZ and/or ITC?

I'm working on the German Article and there some Questions:

  • ITC - Inter Tropic Conversion
  • ITCZ - InterTropical Convergence Zone
  • ITC - Inner Tropic Conversion
  • ITCZ - InnerTropical Convergence Zone

These are often used terms for ITC or ITCZ if someone wants to explain where the abbreveation comes from. Aren't they used in English too? --Saperaud 12:20, 19 Mar 2005 (UTC) PS: Whats with Thermal equator?

"Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone" (ITCZ) is favored by US meteorologists at the National Hurricane Center. -- Cyrius|✎ 02:24, 5 Jun 2005 (UTC)
Shouldn't the words of title of the article be all capitalized (because it would be Intertropical Convergence Zone)? I doubt that only the I is capitalized (as it currently stands in the first sentence of the article). --AySz88^-^ 17:12, 10 December 2005 (UTC)
Yes, the article title is incorrect, but I cannot get it to accept the change as the software for moving articles does not distinguish between Intertropical convergenze zone (incorrect) and Intertropical Convergence Zone (correct). - Marshman 00:05, 5 January 2006 (UTC)
The fix was fairly straight forward: move the article to a completely different name, then move it again to one with the correct caps (then clean up the double redirect left behind). Denni ☯ 02:06, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Some changes of mine...

I changed [1]:

It is formed, as its name indicates, by the convergence of warm, moist air from the latitudes above and below the equator.

to

It is formed by the vertical ascent of warm, moist air from the latitudes above and below the equator.

I think the latter is correct: if it were formed by convergence (for whatever reason) it would be a *high* pressure area. Its a *low* pressure area because the ascent is effectively sucking air in.

I also changed:

Because of the strength of the Hadley cells on either side of it, weather systems familiar to mid-latitude dwellers do not have the chance to form, and as a result, there are no prevailing winds. Advective (horizontal) motion is due entirely to air from the trade winds replacing that carried aloft by convection, a slow, languorous process at best.

to:

Within the ITCZ the average winds are slight, unlike the zones north and south of the equator where the trade winds feed in.

I don't think the former is correct. You don't get traditional mid-latitude weather systems in the tropics because (a) the coriolis effect is different and (b) the forcing is different too (which gets into yucky why-is-the-ferrel-cell territory). The key point is that in the trades, there are steady winds which are the hadley cell inflows. Directly under the updrafts, this inflow stops and thats why there are doldrums: it *isn't* anything to do with the strength of the hadley circ.

OK, thats my take, discussing as promised. Over to... William M. Connolley 21:58, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Question

How significant is the ITCZ to the formation of tropical cyclones? It obviously has something to do with them, else the NHC would not bother mentioning it in their tropical weather discussions. However, I don't know how important its influence is (hence the low TC importance) and this article does not clarify that situation at all.--Nilfanion (talk) 09:44, 12 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Question

I heard in highschool that this region was also referred to as The Horse Lattitudes because Spanish vessels that traveled to the New World and got caught in this belt would dump their horses overboard to lighten their load to hopefully pick up speed. Any word on the truth of this? Improvclifton 9:00, 12 July 2006 (UTC)

Yes, and no. The horse latitudes are a different area of poor sailing conditions. —Cuiviénen 02:43, 4 March 2007 (UTC)
Just to flesh this response out a bit, the Horse Latitudes are found between 30 and 35 degrees north and south of the equator. The ITCZ lies right on the equator, give or take a few degrees each side. It is likely horses were thrown overboard for the more immediate need to preserve water. Dennitalk 19:19, 4 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] low spirits?

"Within the ITCZ the average winds are slight, unlike the zones north and south of the equator where the trade winds feed in. Early sailors named this belt of calm the doldrums because of the low spirits they found themselves in after days of no wind. To find oneself becalmed in this region in a hot and muggy climate could mean death in the era when wind was the only motive force."

doldrums has two meanings in the dictionary:"a state of inactivity or stagnation, as in business or art" and "a dull, listless, depressed mood; low spirits." Why is only the low spirits reason listed for the naming of the area, wouldn't the first definition fit better?

also, there is no reference backing that section up

Slash's snakepit 21:04, 10 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Importance

Raised to high importance, simply because this is the intertropical convergence zone we're talking about here. --Coredesat talk. o_O 18:49, 11 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Jan/July Image?

Doesn't look very accurate to me!!

What does it mean "ABOVE and BELOW the Equator"? I saw this in the first paragraph of the article. In geography there's no such thing as Up dfdsafdsafdas wowzersz im cool. There are North and South. Because "above the Equator" could mean "over the equator in the atmosphere", and even "on geostationary orbit". "Below the equator" is the earth's crust, than the mantle, after that the liquid and the solid core. Please be accurate and use the proper geographic concepts "to the North" and "to the South".


[edit] Out Of India Theory

It is extremely simple. The OIT is proposed by a number of academic scholars in the field. It has also been recently burgeoned by genetic studies done in the last 5 years. So to claim it is "rejected" by scholars is patently false, as there are some scholars who are far more knowledgeable in the field than you or I who are currrently advocating it.

[edit] Doldrums redirect

Doldrums should not redirect here. The doldrums is a particular area of the atlantic ocean (and maybe other oceans, but at any rate not any of land mass) which has a particular weather pattern perhaps caused by the ITCZ but with particular history, cultural significance and maritime relevance. To explain the term "Doldrums" in an encyclopedia purely by reference to this physical, technical description of its meteorology seems to me to miss something pretty significant. For example, does this article capture the sense of the doldrums conveyed by Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner? I don't think it does. A Doldrums article (which I don't feel qualified to write, by the way) ought to hyperlink into this article, but should all the same be separate. ElectricRay (talk) 22:44, 15 January 2008 (UTC)

Being Bold, I have just gone ahead and removed the redirect, and had a stab at adding a piece about Coleridge. ElectricRay (talk) 23:11, 15 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Question about 'Position' and the picture

In the article it says: Over the oceans, where the convergence zone is better defined, the seasonal cycle is more subtle, as the convection is constrained by the distribution of ocean temperatures.

I have 3 questions to this paragraph:

1) What does it mean it is better defined? 2) What does it mean that the cycle is more gentle? 3) Also when I look at the picture with Jan/Jun it seems that 'is constrained by the distribution of ocean temperatures' applies only to Atlantic and not to Pacific, but my conclusions are probably wrong because of wrong understanding of 1) and 2)

maju (talk) 08:12, 17 May 2008 (UTC)