This note introduces students to
oceanographic processes active at the Earth's surface and their relationship to
other components of the Earth's overall environment including climate
variability and Global Change issues. Topics covered includes: Structure of the
Earth, The Earth's Ocean Basins, Plate Tectonics, The Earth's Atmosphere and
Heat Budget, Ocean Waves and Tides, Surface Ocean Circulation, he Nature and
Properties of Water, Variability of Water in the World's Oceans, Deep Ocean
Circulation, Weathering and Erosion, Marine Sedimentation, Coastal Environments
and Beach Processes, Nutrients and Dissolved Gases in the World's Oceans,
Systematics of Marine Biology, Marine Ecology - Trophic Levels and Food Webs,
Marine Ecosystems, Coral Reef Ecosystems, Paleoclimate/Paleoceanography,
Managing the Ocean Ocean Resources.
This note
covers the following topics: The Geophysical Perspective, Atmospheric
Circulation and Air or Sea Interaction, Physical Properties of Sea Water,
Thermohaline Circulation, Elements of Dynamical Oceanography, The Dynamics of
Ocean Circulation, Waves and Tides, Estuaries.
This lecture note helps students
develop an understanding of the unifying principles and processes which are
critical in understanding both the evolution and behaviour of the planet Earth,
with a particular focus on aspects relating to the atmosphere and the ocean.
Topics covered includes: The place of physical oceanography in science,
Properties of seawater, The Global Oceanic Heat Budget , Distribution of
temperature and salinity with depth; the density stratification, Aspects of
Geophysical Fluid Dynamics, Thermohaline processes; water mass formation; the
seasonal thermocline, The ocean and climate , Waves , Long Waves, Oceanographic
instrumentation.
This note covers the following topics: rotation , earths gravity field and
sea level , ekman layers friction and geostrophic flow , winddriven circulation
stommels gyre and sverdrups balance , stress in the ocean , observations of the
gulf stream in the n atlantic , global hydrographic climatology pdf, equatorial
twists to midlatitude dynamics , the large scale thermohaline circulation some
thermodynamics , the thermohaline circulation , another wrinkle on observations
of the abyssal ocean geothermal heating and hydrothermal vents , tidal forces ,
introduction to waves and time dependent motion and internal waves
Oceanography is the par excellence
interdisciplinary science thanks to its peculiar setting within a fluid
environment that makes connections extremely efficient. The oceans connections
are well mirrored in the chapters of this book that share a quite explicit
multidisciplinary and multi-environmental character. The book provides chapters
on very different topics under very different settings, some with a focused
angle, others with a broader approach, yet all sharing the idea that we need to
understand the small pieces in order to put together the big picture for a much
larger mechanism, the functioning of the ocean as a whole
This
is a 3 credit class, which involves a total of 45 contact hours. These will
include both lectures and field activities. The material of the class is divided
into 5 sections: geological oceanography, chemical oceanography, physical
oceanography, biological oceanography, and humans & the oceans. Besides quizzes
and exams on material covered in class, you will also be evaluated on papers and
presentations that will allow you to further your knowledge of one given topic
related to oceanography, and conduct your own independent research project.
These
notes represent the topic content for physical oceanography. In addition, two
introductory lectures place the atmospheric and oceanographic aspects of the
topic in the context of the exact sciences