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    Physical Oceanography: Introduction

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    William Disraeli Sinaga
    1. The document provides an overview of physical oceanography, covering topics like ocean scales, waves, circulation, bathymetry, and sunlight penetration. 2. It discusses the Gulf Stream and how it transports heat and salt via ocean eddies. It also covers the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. 3. General circulation models are mentioned as tools used to simulate ocean features like temperature, salinity, sea level height, and currents.

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    Physical Oceanography: Introduction

    Uploaded by

    William Disraeli Sinaga
    25 views40 pages
    1. The document provides an overview of physical oceanography, covering topics like ocean scales, waves, circulation, bathymetry, and sunlight penetration. 2. It discusses the Gulf Stream and how it transports heat and salt via ocean eddies. It also covers the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. 3. General circulation models are mentioned as tools used to simulate ocean features like temperature, salinity, sea level height, and currents.

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    Original Title

    Lecture1.Intro

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    1. The document provides an overview of physical oceanography, covering topics like ocean scales, waves, circulation, bathymetry, and sunlight penetration. 2. It discusses the Gulf Stream and how it transports heat and salt via ocean eddies. It also covers the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. 3. General circulation models are mentioned as tools used to simulate ocean features like temperature, salinity, sea level height, and currents.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    25 views40 pages

    Physical Oceanography: Introduction

    Uploaded by

    William Disraeli Sinaga
    1. The document provides an overview of physical oceanography, covering topics like ocean scales, waves, circulation, bathymetry, and sunlight penetration. 2. It discusses the Gulf Stream and how it transports heat and salt via ocean eddies. It also covers the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. 3. General circulation models are mentioned as tools used to simulate ocean features like temperature, salinity, sea level height, and currents.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 40

    Physical Oceanography: Introduction

    Lecture 1: The subject of physical oceanography Scales Ocean waves, Eddies Ocean bathymetry Sea Level Height Ocean circulation and the Gulf Stream: the first look Sunlight penetration into the ocean Lectures 1 2, reading: Stewart chapters 1-2-3

    Scales and Phenomena:

    Ocean circulation

    Molecular diffusion versus vertical turbulent mixing

    Scales

    ~1mm

    1cm-10m Smyth and Moum 2001

    Surface gravity-capillary waves /1-5cm/

    Surface wind waves

    Tsunami

    Tides

    Internal gravity waves

    Internal gravity waves

    Instability Waves in the Tropical Pacific and Atlantic a snapshot of sea surface temperatures (SST)

    Ocean circulation

    Circulation strength (water volume transport) is measured in Sverdrups (Sv=106m3/s). The Gulfstram transport ~30Sv through the Florida straight

    The Gulf Stream and ocean eddies

    The Gulf Stream and ocean eddies

    cold

    warm

    Gulf Stream meanders lead to the formation of a spinning eddy, a ring. Notice that rings have a diameter of about 1. After Ring Group (1981). This is a mechanism of heat, salt (pole-ward) and mass (equator-ward) transport

    Each frame 7days; 2 years total

    The Antartctic Circumpolar Current and its eddies

    Mean Speed

    A snapshot

    Eddies:

    Salinity and velocity at 260m in HadCM

    GCMs = General Circulation Models


    solve the primitive equations of motion (PDEs), i.e. the Navier-Stokes equations with forcing in spherical coordinates with appropriate boundary conditions at the ocean surface:

    u, v horizontal velocity w vertical velocity p pressure density s salinity potential temperature t time latitude longitude z depth f the Coriolis parameter

    GCMs can simulate ocean largescale features: thermal and salinity structures -> density structure (stratification) distributions of chemical tracers (e.g. oxygen) sea level elevation (SLH) general circulation and currents

    T
    Ocean thermal structure

    Pacific Ocean

    S
    Ocean salinity

    Atlantic Ocean

    Oxygen concentration, Atlantic

    Sea Level Height (with respect to the geoid)


    meters

    1. Ocean 2. Reference ellipsoid 3. Local plumb line 4. Continent 5. Geoid

    Wikipedia

    The geoid is a surface to which the force of gravity is everywhere perpendicular Differences between the reference ellipsoid and the geoid are ~100m Sea Surface Heights anomalies are ~1m

    Ocean circulation

    Circulation strength (water volume transport) is measured in Sverdrups (Sv=106m3/s). The Gulf Stream transport ~30Sv through the Florida straight

    Ocean thermohaline circulation

    Whereas the circulation of surface waters is driven by winds, the circulation of the deep waters depends on density differences. Circulation in the depths of the ocean is often referred to as thermohaline circulation. The deep ocean is layered with the densest water on bottom and the lightest water on top. Water tends to move horizontally throughout the deep ocean, moving along lines of equal density. Vertical circulation is thus limited because it is easier for water to move along lines of constant density (isopycnals) than across them.

    Ocean Bathymetry:

    Elevation km

    Average Depth: 3720m 4000m the Marianas trench 11,000m

    Slope or aspect ratio:

    H/L<<1

    Schematic section through the ocean showing principal features of the sea floor (ocean topography). The slope of the sea floor is greatly exaggerated in the figure. Ocean bottom is largely flat (very small aspect ratio)

    Vertical exaggeration of 180:1

    Vertical exaggeration of 30:1

    Cross-section of the south Atlantic along 25S showing the continental shelf offshore of South America, a seamount near 35W, the mid-Atlantic Ridge near 14W, the Walvis Ridge near 6E, and the narrow continental shelf off South Africa. The ocean has a very low aspect ratio!

    The inter-oceanic ridge system of the world ocean and major secondary ridges. Structures with significant impact on ocean currents and properties are labeled. Note the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the ridge system (forming a sill) near the Drake passage.

    Sunlight penetration into the ocean

    Louisiana coast and the dynamic coastal region showing the suspended sediments, organic matter and phytoplankton. March 15, 1999. NASA. Note waters of different turbidity.

    Sunlight penetration into the ocean

    dI = aI; dz

    I = I o exp(az)

    I irradiance or light intensity (power per square area, Watts/m2) a is attenuation, depends on wavelength and water clarity or turbidity (concentration of sediments and sediment type, concentration of biota, e.g. phytoplankton) z depth

    violet

    red

    Wavelength (nm) Transmittance of daylight in % per meter as a function of wavelength. I: extremely pure ocean water; II: turbid tropical-subtropical water; III: mid-latitude water; 1-9: coastal waters of increasing turbidity.

    1-9: coastal waters of increasing turbidity II-III: turbid subtropical/mid-latitude waters


    Louisiana coast and the dynamic coastal region showing the suspended sediments, organic matter and phytoplankton. March 15, 1999. NASA. Note waters of different turbidity.

    Example 1: Turbid tropical waters (the Gulf of Mexico) water type II transmittance 90% per meter: at the depth of 45m light is at 1% intensity:

    Example 2: Coastal waters type 7 (Long Island Sound) transmittance 50% per meter: at the depth of 3m light is at 1% intensity

    Sunlight is absorbed near ocean surface

    major implications:

    1) If you observe temperature 29oC at the surface and 28oC at 100m depth, it is not because of direct sunlight. You cannot heat the ocean below a few tens of meters this way 2) Ocean surface temperatures are generally well correlated with the seasonal cycle. 3) Phytoplankton (the first step in the biological food chain) and hence zooplankton live largely near the surface

    phytoplankton (e.g. algae, cyanobacterium) account for approximately 50% to 90% photosynthesis on this planet

    zooplankton graze on the pastures of phytoplankton

    Ocean color is largely related to the concentration of chlorophyll (an indicator of ocean productivity, i.e. ocean production of biomass)

    Chlorophyll concentration below the ocean surface

    High productivity: Coastal and equatorial upwelling regions and regions with strong vertical mixing. There is a strong seasonality in high latitudes

    Oxygen concentration

    Q: Why is there an oxygen minimum? Biomass is produced near the surface; it falls down while being consumed below 50m or so by aerobic bacteria. By 1000m 90% of organic matter is oxygenized.

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