DOCSLIB.ORG

SEMESTER at SEA COURSE SYLLABUS Colorado State

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
SEMESTER at SEA COURSE SYLLABUS Colorado State SEMESTER AT SEA COURSE SYLLABUS Colorado State University, Academic Partner Voyage: Spring 2022 Discipline: Natural Resources Course Number and Title: NR 150 Oceanography Division: Lower Faculty Name: Ursula Quillmann Semester Credit Hours: 3 Prerequisites: None COURSE DESCRIPTION Studying the ocean while voyaging on the ocean is a dream-come-true. We will study in the classroom the fundamentals of the four major disciplines in oceanography, 1.) Geological Oceanography (GO), Chemical Oceanography (CO), Physical Oceanography (PO), and Biological Oceanography (BO), and how together they shape our environment and Earth’s climate. The exciting part is that we will see the interaction of these four disciplines coming to life throughout the voyage. We will spend time together on the deck, observing the ocean and hopefully seeing wildlife. We will also discuss the changing ocean environments, including ocean warming, acidification, sea level rise. We will also discuss the pressures humans exert on the marine environments, including pollution, overfishing, destroying coastal habitats. Port discovery will give us a chance to evaluate the role the ocean plays in ten countries and to compare the health of the marine environment in these countries. Before each port, we will look at the pressing coastal marine issues each country is facing, and we will allow ample time to share our experiences with one another and learn from one another. This voyage allows the unique opportunity to see the big picture on how our ocean provides essential services to us. The overarching goal of studying the ocean on our voyage is to become aware that the ocean is our lifeline. We must protect our ocean if we want to live on a healthy planet. LEARNING OBJECTIVES By the end of this class students will be able to: Outline the fundamentals of oceanography by acquiring insights to four of the main disciplines in oceanography (geological, physical, chemical, and biological oceanography) in the classroom and through readings. Analyze how the main disciplines in oceanography function as a whole by analyzing real-time observations throughout the voyage by applying what they learned in the classroom. Examine the key role the ocean plays in moderating Earth's climate and weather by studying various oceanic feedback mechanisms, including general atmospheric and ocean circulation patterns, the greenhouse effect, the thermohaline circulation, and the carbon cycle. Evaluate the human impact on the ocean, coastlines, and marine environments through first- hand observations throughout the voyage and through lectures, readings, port discovery, and documentaries. REQUIRED TEXTBOOKS AND SUPPLIES AUTHOR: Tom Garrison TITLE: Oceanography: An Invitation to Marine Science PUBLISHER: Cengage Learning ISBN #: 10: 1305105168 DATE/EDITION: 2016/ 9th edition o Small handheld microscope o Such as: USB Microscope, KKmoon USB Digital Zoom Microscope Magnifier with OTG Function 8-LED Light Magnifying Glass 1000X Magnification with Stand OR Carson MicroBrite Plus LED Lighted Pocket Microscope or microscope that fits smartphone to take images OR similar o All-weather notebook o Such as: Rite in the Rain All-Weather Journal Spiral Notebook OR similar o Colored pencils o Thin notebook o This notebook will be turned in after each class for grading (participation) and handed back at the beginning of the next class session. TOPICAL OUTLINE OF COURSE Figure 1: Visual Course Overview Our course is broken into four major disciplines (units) of oceanography: Unit 1: Geological Oceanography (Chapters 1,3,4); Unit 2: Chemical Oceanography (Chapters 6,7); Unit 3: Physical Oceanography (Chapters 8,9,10,11,12); Unit 4: Biological Oceanography (Chapters 13,14,15,16) While we explore the scientific foundations of each of these four disciplines, we will consider the impact of human activities on each of these four disciplines and analyze their ripple effect across the environment. Embarkation Day — January 5 1: Introductions, expectations, group norms Our Voyage: Who voyaged here before us and why? - A closer look at our route. Readings: Chapter 2.1, 2.2, 2.5 Friday essay: the long history of warrior turtles, from ancient myth to warships to teenage mutants (The Conversation, February 2021) Globalization really started 1,000 years ago (The Conversation, June 2020) From early one, peoples navigated and explored the ocean. Records from the Mediterranean are the oldest direct evidence we have of voyaging (“traveling on the ocean for a specific purpose). The beginning of marine science dates to these early mariners. We will learn about the remarkable Chinese “treasure ships” that explored between 1406 and 1433 the Indian Ocean and Indonesia and sailed around the tip of Africa into the Atlantic Ocean. Globalization started a 1000 years ago with ocean faring peoples. Learning Objectives for the day: Describe the history and purposes of ocean voyagers throughout time. Discuss how the goals of the sea-faring Renaissance Europeans differed from the goals of the seafaring peoples during the “Dark Ages”. UNIT 1: GEOLOGICAL OCEANOGRAPHY PROVIDES THE SETTING 2: The Origin of the Ocean Readings: Chapter 1.1, 1.3-1.5 Optional: Ancient microbial life used arsenic to thrive in a world without oxygen (The Conversation, September 2020) Before we ”dive” into the ocean, we need to find out why there is an Earth and why it has an ocean. The origin of our planet is linked to the formation of our solar system and the galaxies. Did you know that most elements that make up Earth and its inhabitants were formed inside of stars? Some stars exploded cataclysmically upon the end of their life cycle (super nova) and eject these elements into space. Our sun and the planets surrounding our sun, including Earth, probably formed from the remnants of older stars and their elements. 3: Earth Structure and Plate Tectonics & Recognizing the Role Marie Tharp Played in the Discovery of Ocean Spreading. Readings: Chapter 3.1-3.7 Marie Tharp pioneered mapping the bottom of the ocean 6 decades ago – scientists are still learning about Earth’s last frontier (The Conversation, July 2020) Imagine for a moment, that you were attending a geology lecture in the early 1900s on mountain and ocean basins formation. Your professor would have explained that mountains and ocean basins formed because Earth as it ages it is contracting. Young Earth was plumb like a grape but Earth shriveled up as it ages, just like a grape shrivels to become a raisin. If you look closely at a raisin, you see ridges and dimples. The ridges are analogous to Earth’s mountain ranges and the dimples are basins where water could collect to form our ocean. We now know that this idea did not hold up. It is a perfect reminder for us that science and our understanding of how our natural world around us functions are processes that are not static but dynamic and ever evolving. 4: Plate Tectonics (continued) Readings: Chapter 3.8-3.10 We will look at how lithospheric plates interact their boundaries and examine the resultant landforms. In-class Group Project #1 The tectonics of the Mediterranean is complex. Use the “handout” to draw the three main lithospheric plates of the Mediterranean. What kind of geologic activities do you expect? Can you relate the tectonics to coastlines and marine ecosystems? 5: Ocean Basins Readings: Chapter4.1 – 4.3 Optional: Israel’s Beaches Are Littered With Tar After Mysterious Oil Spill, New York Times (Feb 2021) & Israel’s Beaches Are Littered With Tar After Mysterious Oil Spill, New York Times (Feb 2021) Film: Drain the Ocean The ocean floor can be divided into two regions: continental margin and deep-ocean basin. The continental margin is the submerged part of adjacent continents and shares characteristics with the land. The deep ocean is vastly different. To really appreciate the geologic features on the deep ocean floor, we will watch a documentary “Drain the Ocean”. In this documentary, we will see the hidden features in the deep ocean become visible to us. We will see rugged ocean ridges with active volcanism. Actually, about 80% of volcanism occurs underwater, hidden from our eyes. Some of the most fascinating features on Earth are hidden by water. 6: Ocean Basins (cont.) Readings: Chapter 4.4-4.6 UNIT 2: CHEMICAL OCEANOGRAPHY PROVIDES THE INGREDIENTS 7: Water and Ocean Structure Readings: Chapter 6 Remember in our overview visual chemical oceanography provides the “ingredients”. And what is the main ingredient of the ocean? Did you answer water, H2O? Exactly, water is the main ingredient of the ocean! We take water for granted, but after we finished this module, I hope you will share with my appreciation for a unique substance without which life on Earth would be fundamentally different. 8: Ocean Chemistry Readings: Chapter 7 Optional: Explainer: why ocean acidification is the ‘evil twin’ of climate change (The Conversation, July 2011) Today we will learn why the ocean is salty. Where does the salt come from? Why are some oceans saltier than others? We will also look at how gases dissolve in the ocean and where the gases come from. Dissolved oxygen is critical for marine like. The ocean takes up vast amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2). Actually, there is about 60 times as much CO2 dissolved in the ocean as in the atmosphere. We will discuss the processes that make it possible for the ocean to uptake and store so much CO2. Further, we will analyze the link between fossil-fuel burning and ocean acidification (OA). We will discuss how OA affects marine life. I hope that the two ocean chemistry modules will make you appreciate the uniqueness of water and our ocean. In-class Group Project #2 Use the “handouts” provided in class today and compare the salinities in the Mediterranean Sea to those of the Baltic Sea.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Arxiv:1809.01376V1 [Astro-Ph.EP] 5 Sep 2018
    Draft version March 9, 2021 Typeset using LATEX preprint2 style in AASTeX61 IDEALIZED WIND-DRIVEN OCEAN CIRCULATIONS ON EXOPLANETS Weiwen Ji,1 Ru Chen,2 and Jun Yang1 1Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, School of Physics, Peking University, 100871, Beijing, China 2University of California, 92521, Los Angeles, USA ABSTRACT Motivated by the important role of the ocean in the Earth climate system, here we investigate possible scenarios of ocean circulations on exoplanets using a one-layer shallow water ocean model. Specifically, we investigate how planetary rotation rate, wind stress, fluid eddy viscosity and land structure (a closed basin vs. a reentrant channel) influence the pattern and strength of wind-driven ocean circulations. The meridional variation of the Coriolis force, arising from planetary rotation and the spheric shape of the planets, induces the western intensification of ocean circulations. Our simulations confirm that in a closed basin, changes of other factors contribute to only enhancing or weakening the ocean circulations (e.g., as wind stress decreases or fluid eddy viscosity increases, the ocean circulations weaken, and vice versa). In a reentrant channel, just as the Southern Ocean region on the Earth, the ocean pattern is characterized by zonal flows. In the quasi-linear case, the sensitivity of ocean circulations characteristics to these parameters is also interpreted using simple analytical models. This study is the preliminary step for exploring the possible ocean circulations on exoplanets, future work with multi-layer ocean models and fully coupled ocean-atmosphere models are required for studying exoplanetary climates. Keywords: astrobiology | planets and satellites: oceans | planets and satellites: terrestrial planets arXiv:1809.01376v1 [astro-ph.EP] 5 Sep 2018 Corresponding author: Jun Yang [email protected] 2 Ji, Chen and Yang 1.
    [Show full text]
  • Lecture 4: OCEANS (Outline)
    LectureLecture 44 :: OCEANSOCEANS (Outline)(Outline) Basic Structures and Dynamics Ekman transport Geostrophic currents Surface Ocean Circulation Subtropicl gyre Boundary current Deep Ocean Circulation Thermohaline conveyor belt ESS200A Prof. Jin -Yi Yu BasicBasic OceanOcean StructuresStructures Warm up by sunlight! Upper Ocean (~100 m) Shallow, warm upper layer where light is abundant and where most marine life can be found. Deep Ocean Cold, dark, deep ocean where plenty supplies of nutrients and carbon exist. ESS200A No sunlight! Prof. Jin -Yi Yu BasicBasic OceanOcean CurrentCurrent SystemsSystems Upper Ocean surface circulation Deep Ocean deep ocean circulation ESS200A (from “Is The Temperature Rising?”) Prof. Jin -Yi Yu TheThe StateState ofof OceansOceans Temperature warm on the upper ocean, cold in the deeper ocean. Salinity variations determined by evaporation, precipitation, sea-ice formation and melt, and river runoff. Density small in the upper ocean, large in the deeper ocean. ESS200A Prof. Jin -Yi Yu PotentialPotential TemperatureTemperature Potential temperature is very close to temperature in the ocean. The average temperature of the world ocean is about 3.6°C. ESS200A (from Global Physical Climatology ) Prof. Jin -Yi Yu SalinitySalinity E < P Sea-ice formation and melting E > P Salinity is the mass of dissolved salts in a kilogram of seawater. Unit: ‰ (part per thousand; per mil). The average salinity of the world ocean is 34.7‰. Four major factors that affect salinity: evaporation, precipitation, inflow of river water, and sea-ice formation and melting. (from Global Physical Climatology ) ESS200A Prof. Jin -Yi Yu Low density due to absorption of solar energy near the surface. DensityDensity Seawater is almost incompressible, so the density of seawater is always very close to 1000 kg/m 3.
    [Show full text]
  • Ocean-Gyre-4.Pdf
    This website would like to remind you: Your browser (Apple Safari 4) is out of date. Update your browser for more × security, comfort and the best experience on this site. Encyclopedic Entry ocean gyre For the complete encyclopedic entry with media resources, visit: http://education.nationalgeographic.com/encyclopedia/ocean-gyre/ An ocean gyre is a large system of circular ocean currents formed by global wind patterns and forces created by Earth’s rotation. The movement of the world’s major ocean gyres helps drive the “ocean conveyor belt.” The ocean conveyor belt circulates ocean water around the entire planet. Also known as thermohaline circulation, the ocean conveyor belt is essential for regulating temperature, salinity and nutrient flow throughout the ocean. How a Gyre Forms Three forces cause the circulation of a gyre: global wind patterns, Earth’s rotation, and Earth’s landmasses. Wind drags on the ocean surface, causing water to move in the direction the wind is blowing. The Earth’s rotation deflects, or changes the direction of, these wind-driven currents. This deflection is a part of the Coriolis effect. The Coriolis effect shifts surface currents by angles of about 45 degrees. In the Northern Hemisphere, ocean currents are deflected to the right, in a clockwise motion. In the Southern Hemisphere, ocean currents are pushed to the left, in a counterclockwise motion. Beneath surface currents of the gyre, the Coriolis effect results in what is called an Ekman spiral. While surface currents are deflected by about 45 degrees, each deeper layer in the water column is deflected slightly less.
    [Show full text]
  • Section 16.1 Ocean Circulation This Section Discusses How Movements of Surface and Deep-Ocean Waters Occur
    Name ___________________________ Class ___________________ Date _____________ Chapter 16 The Dynamic Ocean Section 16.1 Ocean Circulation This section discusses how movements of surface and deep-ocean waters occur. Reading Strategy Identifying Main Ideas As you read, write the main idea of each topic in the table. For more information on this Reading Strategy, see the Reading and Study Skills in the Skills and Reference Handbook at the end of your textbook. Topic Main Idea Surface currents a. Gyres b. Ocean currents and climate c. Upwelling d. Surface Circulation 1. Is the following sentence true or false? Friction between the ocean and the wind blowing across its surface cause ocean surface currents. Match each definition with its term. Definition Term 2. large whirl of water within an a. gyre ocean basin b. upwelling 3. mass of ocean water that flows c. surface current from place to place © Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Prentice Hall. All rights reserved. d. ocean current 4. rising of cold, deep ocean water to replace warmer surface water 5. horizontal water movement in the upper part of the ocean’s surface Earth Science Guided Reading and Study Workbook ■ 119 Name ___________________________ Class ___________________ Date _____________ Chapter 16 The Dynamic Ocean 6. Select the appropriate letter on the map that identifies each of the following ocean currents. North Atlantic Gyre North Pacific Gyre South Atlantic Gyre South Pacific Gyre Indian Ocean Gyre 150° 120° 90° 60° 30˚ 0° 30˚ 60° 90° 120° 150° 80˚ 80˚ L a . br a C Warm d . n o d C a r lan i Cold C n g 60˚ e we 60˚ .
    [Show full text]
  • Wind-Driven Ocean Circulation TEACHER’S GUIDE
    AMERICAN METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY The Maury Project Wind-Driven Ocean Circulation TEACHER’S GUIDE A The Maury Project This guide is one of a series produced by The Maury Project, an initiative of the American Meteorological Society and the United States Naval Academy. The Maury Project has created and trained a network of selected master teachers who provide peer training sessions in precollege physical oceanographic education. To support these teachers in their teacher training, The Maury Project develops and produces teacher's guides, slide sets, and other educational materials. For further information, and the names of the trained master teachers in your state or region, please contact: The Maury Project American Meteorological Society 1200 New York Avenue, NW, Suite 500 Washington, DC 20005 This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. ESI-9353370. This project was supported, in part, by the National Science Foundation Opinions expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the foundation © 2018 American Meteorological Society (Permission is hereby granted for the reproduction, without alteration, of materials contained in this publication for non-commercial use in schools on the condition their source is acknowledged.) i Forward This guide has been prepared to introduce fundamental understandings about the guide topic. This guide is organized as follows: Introduction This is a narrative summary of background information to introduce the topic. Basic Understandings Basic understandings are statements of principles, concepts, and information. The basic understandings represent material to be mastered by the learner, and can be especially helpful in devising learning activities and in writing learning objectives and test items.
    [Show full text]
  • Ocean Current Energy Resource Assessment for the United States
    OCEAN CURRENT ENERGY RESOURCE ASSESSMENT FOR THE UNITED STATES A Dissertation Presented to The Academic Faculty by Xiufeng Yang In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology December 2013 Copyright c 2013 by Xiufeng Yang OCEAN CURRENT ENERGY RESOURCE ASSESSMENT FOR THE UNITED STATES Approved by: Kevin A. Haas, Committee Chair Emanuele Di Lorenzo School of Civil and Environmental School of Earth and Atmospheric Engineering Sciences Georgia Institute of Technology Georgia Institute of Technology Hermann M. Fritz Paul A. Work School of Civil and Environmental California Water Science Center Engineering U.S. Geological Survey Georgia Institute of Technology Philip J. Roberts Date Approved: November 11, 2013 School of Civil and Environmental Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my advisor Dr. Kevin Haas, for providing me with research opportunities and his patient and enlightening guidance throughout my time at Georgia Tech. I am extremely grateful for the invaluable time Dr. Hermann Fritz has invested in advising my research. I sincerely thank Dr. Paul Work for educating me in various topics in coastal engineering and providing me with field and teaching experiences. I want to sincerely thank Dr. Di Lorenzo for enriching my knowledge in oceanography and his continuous support since my thesis proposal. I also wish to thank Dr. Philip Robert for serving on my thesis committee and his comments on my thesis. I would also like to thank other professors, Dr. Donald Webster, Dr. David Scott, Dr.
    [Show full text]
  • OCEANOGRAPHY STUDY GUIDE Chapter 2 Section 1 1
    OCEANOGRAPHY STUDY GUIDE Chapter 2 Section 1 1. Most abundant salt in ocean. Sodium chloride; NaCl 2. Amount of Earth covered by Water 71% 3. Four oceans: What are they? Atlantic, Pacific, Arctic, Indian . Largest? Pacific . Smallest? Arctic . Locations of each? Atlantic – between the Americas and Africa; Pacific – between the Americas and Asia; Indian – beneath Asia, to the east of Africa; Arctic- above Russia, Europe, and Canada Chapter 2 Section 1 4. What is Salinity? The amount of dissolved salt in a given amount of water 5. How is salinity increased in the ocean? Evaporation, Freezing, More runoff following erosion . How is it decreased? Increased rainfall, Melting of ice; Increase of freshwater runoff 6. What influences density of water? Changes in temperature and salinity 7. Basics parts of the water cycle. Condensation – water goes from gas to a liquid Evaporation – water goes from a liquid to a gas Precipitation – water becomes too heavy and falls out of the atmosphere 8. What is the ocean’s most important function? EXPLAIN! To absorb the radiation from the sun. This helps regulate to temperatures on land, preventing large temperature fluctuations. Chapter 2 Section 2 1. How do scientists study the ocean floor? SONAR, satellite, submersibles 2. Major regions of the ocean floor • Continental Margin and Deep-ocean basin Where are these regions located? Can you describe them? Continental Shelf – located in continental margin; closest to shoreline Continental Slope – located in the margin; steep slope Continental Rise – located in the margin; gentle slope leading into basin Abyssal Plain – part of basin; large, flat area of ocean floor Ocean Trench – part of basin; deepest areas of the ocean floor; found at subduction zones Sea Mount – part of the basin; mountain on the ocean floor; can become a guyot or volcanic island Chapter 3 Section 1 1.
    [Show full text]
  • UC Irvine UC Irvine Previously Published Works
    UC Irvine UC Irvine Previously Published Works Title Coupling between Wind-Driven Currents and Midlatitude Storm Tracks Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/644887v9 Journal Journal of Climate, 14(6) Authors Primeau, F. Cessi, P. Publication Date 2001-03-01 DOI 10.1175/1520-0442(2001)014<1243:CBWDCA>2.0.CO;2 License https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ 4.0 Peer reviewed eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California 15 MARCH 2001 PRIMEAU AND CESSI 1243 Coupling between Wind-Driven Currents and Midlatitude Storm Tracks FRANCËOIS PRIMEAU AND PAOLA CESSI Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California (Manuscript received 15 December 1999, in ®nal form 30 May 2000) ABSTRACT A model for the interaction between the midlatitude ocean gyres and the wind stress is formulated for a shallow-water, spherical hemisphere with ®nite thermocline displacement and the latitudinal dependence of the long Rossby wave speed. The oceanic currents create a temperature front at the midlatitude intergyre boundary that is strongest near the western part of the basin. The intergyre temperature front affects the atmospheric temperature gradient in the storm track region, increasing the eddy transport of heat and the surface westerlies. The delayed adjustment of the gyres to the wind stress causes the westerly maximum to migrate periodically in time with a decadal period. The behavior of the model in a spherical geometry is qualitatively similar to that in a quasigeostrophic setting except that here the coupled oscillation involves oceanic temperature anomalies that circulate around the subpolar gyre, whereas the quasigeostrophic calculations favor the subtropical gyre.
    [Show full text]
  • Activity Instructions, Instructor Notes and Answer
    Instructions, Instructor Notes and Answer Key for Ocean Gyre Circulation and Patterns of Global Primary Productivity Instructions for activity: The instructions below are described for individual student participation. This activity could also be used in a small group format, but the groups should probably be no larger than 3 students for each student to really be involved. There is a single front and back handout that students get. The front has a schematic map of the north and south Atlantic Ocean with simplified circulation gyres in each ocean basin and the back has a north to south sea surface profile illustrating that the sea surface is not flat. Print one or two copies of handout for each student. Part 1- Map side. First, ask students to draw arrows on the circulation gyres that show the direction of Ekman transport and then have them compare their map to a neighbor’s map and discuss and similarities/differences. (5 min). Second, we come back to the full class and have someone come to the board or document camera and place their arrows on a blank map (or bring their map up to document camera). Ask class whose map is similar/different and their thoughts on why. Then, together as a class we tease out the correct placement of arrows and why. (7-10 min). Second, students are asked to write the words ‘divergence’ and ‘convergence’ in the locations on the map where each process occurs and to do the same with the words ‘upwelling’ and ‘downwelling’. They then again, compare their map to a neighbor’s and discuss similarities/differences.
    [Show full text]
  • All About Gyres
    STUDENT SHEET 1b All about gyres 1. Think about how ocean currents are formed and how they can then create gyres. Join the beginnings of the sentences in the table below to the correct end of the sentence. Beginnings... Endings. are primarily driven by The ocean is... wind. Both at the surface and at an ocean gyre forms. depth the ocean currents... the position of land Ocean currents... masses. When wind blows across the in constant motion. surface of the water... A second factor impacting the it creates friction, causing ocean currents is... the water to move. They are also affected by and accumulate in gyres. differences in... When the wind and land create water density and the a large circular motion... Earth’s rotation. Plastics entering the sea can be move vast volumes of carried by ocean currents... water every day. Ocean Plastics 11-14 Geography 17 Copyright 2019 Encounter Edu and Common Seas This resource may be reproduced for educational purposes only STUDENT SHEET 1b 2. The development of the North Pacific Gyre Either: Read and complete the following sentences to describe the formation of the North Pacific Gyre. Or: Using the map, describe how the North Pacific Gyre is formed. The Coriolis effect means that the trade winds cause the tropical water to move westwards as the _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Current. Debris usually stays in the gyre but may wash up on coasts when there are storms. Westerly winds change the direction of the current towards the east as the _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Current.
    [Show full text]
  • Topographic Control of Southern Ocean Gyres and the Antarctic Circumpolar Current: a Barotropic Perspective
    DECEMBER 2019 P A T M O R E E T A L . 3221 Topographic Control of Southern Ocean Gyres and the Antarctic Circumpolar Current: A Barotropic Perspective RYAN D. PATMORE,PAUL R. HOLLAND, AND DAVID R. MUNDAY British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, United Kingdom ALBERTO C. NAVEIRA GARABATO University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom DAVID P. STEVENS University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom MICHAEL P. MEREDITH British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, United Kingdom (Manuscript received 5 April 2019, in final form 27 September 2019) ABSTRACT In the Southern Ocean the Antarctic Circumpolar Current is significantly steered by large topographic features, and subpolar gyres form in their lee. The geometry of topographic features in the Southern Ocean is highly variable, but the influence of this variation on the large-scale flow is poorly understood. Using idealized barotropic simulations of a zonal channel with a meridional ridge, it is found that the ridge geometry is important for determining the net zonal volume transport. A relationship is observed between ridge width and volume transport that is determined by the form stress generated by the ridge. Gyre formation is also highly reliant on the ridge geometry. A steep ridge allows gyres to form within regions of unblocked geostrophic (f/H) contours, with an increase in gyre strength as the ridge width is reduced. These relationships among ridge width, gyre strength, and net zonal volume transport emerge to simultaneously satisfy the conservation of momentum and vorticity. 1. Introduction responsible for the meridional exchange of water masses between the Southern Ocean and the basins to the north The Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) and (Speer et al.
    [Show full text]
  • Ocean Currents - Notes
    Ocean Currents - Notes What is an ocean current? A large __________ of moving __________ that flows through the __________. Currents are Important 1. They help to ________ boats and ships. Because…. 2. They _______ nutrients around the oceans 3. They bring up small organisms and plants to the surface so that animals like birds can feed on them (______________ and _______________). 4. Effects ____________ (El Niño and La Niña) Difference between Waves Unlike waves, currents __________ water from one ___________ to another. and Currents Two types of ocean ___________ Currents and __________ Currents currents Surface Currents Surface currents, which affect water to a depth of several hundred meters, are driven MAINLY by ____________. Surface currents are caused by the following: 1. Winds 2. The Earth’s Rotation (___________ Effect) 3. Temperature ______________ in ocean water 4. Continents (continental Deflection) The Coriolis Effect The Earth’s rotation causes wind and surface currents to move in curved paths rather than in straight lines. Due to this: Currents in the 2 hemispheres move in different directions. Currents in the northern hemisphere move in a clockwise direction. (from 12- 6 o’clock, OR from East to West) Currents in the southern hemisphere move in a counter clockwise direction (like going backwards on a clock OR from West to East). Temperature Differences There are _______ currents and _______ currents. - Warm water wants to moves from the equator to the poles - Cold water wants to move from the poles to the equator This creates a consistent movement of water. - The cold water _________ to the bottom and moves towards the equator WHILE - The warm water __________and moves towards the poles.
    [Show full text]