DOCSLIB.ORG

Why We Study the Physics of the Ocean

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Why We Study the Physics of the Ocean Why We Study the Physics of the Ocean Why We Study the Physics of the Ocean: What Physical Oceanographers Really Do By William J. Emery Why We Study the Physics of the Ocean: What Physical Oceanographers Really Do By William J. Emery This book first published 2021 Cambridge Scholars Publishing Lady Stephenson Library, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2PA, UK British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Copyright © 2021 by William J. Emery All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. ISBN (10): 1-5275-6791-5 ISBN (13): 978-1-5275-6791-7 This book is dedicated to Henry Stommel who provided an early inspiration for me to write this book. It is also dedicated to my wife Dora and son Micah who have tolerated me writing it. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 Introduction .......................................................................................... 1 1.1 Physical Oceanography as a Science .............................................. 3 2.0 Historical Development ........................................................................ 8 2.1 Benjamin Franklin .......................................................................... 8 2.2 Naturalists at Sea............................................................................. 9 2.2.1 Naturalist Observers ............................................................. 10 2.3 Organized Expeditions .................................................................. 11 2.3.1 U.S. Exploring Expedition ................................................... 11 2.3.2 The Challenger Expedition ................................................... 13 2.3.3 Fridtjof Nansen and the Fram Expedition ............................ 21 2.3.3.1 Vagn Walfrid Ekman ................................................... 26 2.3.3.2 The Dynamic Method .................................................. 28 2.4 Matthew Fountaine Maury ............................................................ 29 2.5 The Meteor Expedition (1925-27) ................................................ 32 2.6 Oceanographic Institutions ........................................................... 43 2.7 Two Leading Physical Oceanographers ........................................ 44 2.7.1 Henry Melson Stommel ........................................................ 45 2.7.2 Walter H. Munk .................................................................... 50 2.7.2.1 Munk's Evolution of Physical Oceanography .............. 52 3.0 Where Physical Oceanographers Work .............................................. 57 4.0 What are the Sub-disciplines of Physical Oceanography ................... 60 5.0 The Role of Funding in Ocean Research ............................................ 69 5.1 Funding of Research Vessels and the U.S. Research Fleet ........... 70 5.1.1 The Academic Research Fleet (ARF) ................................... 75 5.1.2 NOAA’s Research Fleet ....................................................... 78 5.1.3 UNOLS Operations .............................................................. 81 5.1.4 Research Fleet Capacity and Use ......................................... 82 5.1.5 Scientists at Sea-The Importance of Being There ................ 86 5.1.6 Telepresence at Sea .............................................................. 88 5.1.7 Research Fleet Renewal and Retirement .............................. 89 5.1.8 The Cost of Fleet Renewal ................................................... 94 viii Table of Contents 5.1.9 Fleet Support, Utilization and Operational Costs ................. 96 5.1.10 Ship Concept Designs ........................................................ 98 5.1.11 German Research Vessel Fleet ........................................... 99 5.1.12 The French Research Fleet ............................................... 103 5.1.13 Research Vessels of the United Kingdom ........................ 105 5.1.14 Research Vessel Summary ............................................... 109 6.0 Evolution of Measurements in Physical Oceanography ................... 111 6.1 Traditional Hydrographic Profiling............................................. 112 6.2 Electronic Methods ..................................................................... 116 6.2.1 Underway Upper Ocean Temperature Profiling ................. 124 6.2.1.1 The Mechanical Bathythermograph ........................... 124 6.2.1.2 The Expendable Bathythermograph .......................... 127 6.3 Deep-Sea Moorings .................................................................... 132 6.3.1 The Acoustic Release ......................................................... 132 6.3.2 Current Meter Moorings ..................................................... 135 6.3.3 Eulerian Current Meters ..................................................... 140 6.3.4 Non-mechanical Current Meters ........................................ 148 6.3.4.1 Acoustic Current Meters ............................................ 148 6.3.4.2 Electromagnetic Current Meters ................................ 150 6.3.5 Profiling instruments on moorings ..................................... 154 6.3.6 Lagrangian current measurements ...................................... 155 6.3.6.1 Surface Drifters .......................................................... 155 6.3.6.2 Subsurface Drifters .................................................... 170 6.4 Surface Buoys ............................................................................. 187 6.5 New Measurement Platforms ...................................................... 190 6.5.1 Gliders ................................................................................ 190 6.5.2 Wave Gliders ...................................................................... 194 6.5.3 Saildrones ........................................................................... 198 6.6 New Applications of Old Measurements .................................... 202 6.7 Coastal Surface Currents from High Frequency Radar ............... 203 6.8 Satellite Oceanography ............................................................... 206 6.8.1 Satellite Sea Surface Temperature (SST) ........................... 206 6.8.2 The JPSS and VIIRS .......................................................... 210 6.8.3 Low Light Sensing ............................................................. 214 6.8.4 The Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) ................ 216 6.8.5 The Coastal Zone Color Scanner (CZCS) and SeaWIFS ... 220 6.8.6 SEASAT ............................................................................. 237 6.8.7 Satellite Altimetry .............................................................. 240 6.8.8 Ocean Wind Speed and Direction: Radar Scatterometry.... 247 Why We Study the Physics of the Ocean: ix What Physical Oceanographers Really Do 6.8.9 Directional Wave Spectra from Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) ..................................................................................... 251 6.8.10 Rainfall Over the Ocean ................................................... 253 6.8.11 Tracking Surface Features ................................................ 255 7.0 The Evolution of Major Challenges in Physical Oceanography ....... 261 7.1 Early Problems in Physical Oceanography ................................. 261 7.1.1 Salt in the Sea ..................................................................... 261 7.1.2 Tides in the Ocean .............................................................. 265 7.1.3 Waves in the Ocean ............................................................ 266 7.1.4 Establishing the Mean State of the Ocean .......................... 266 7.2 Modern Challenges in Physical Oceanography .......................... 267 7.2.1 Understanding Turbulent Diffusion and Dissipation .......... 267 7.2.2 The Discovery of Mesoscale Eddies; the Weather of the Ocean ........................................................................... 272 7.2.2.1 The Mid-Ocean Dynamics Experiment (MODE) ...... 274 7.2.2.2 Mesoscale Eddies from Satellite Altimetry ............... 282 7.2.2.3 Biological Consequences of Mesoscale and Submesoscale Eddies ....................................................... 293 7.2.3 El Nino and the Southern Oscillation (ENSO) ................... 296 7.2.4 The Submesoscale Circulation ........................................... 309 7.2.4.1 Observing the Submesoscale ..................................... 313 7.2.4.2 Relationships between Submesoscale Circulations and Biological Productivity.............................................. 322 7.2.5 The Ocean and the Climate ................................................ 328 7.2.5.1 Changing Ocean Heat-Content; the Warming of the Ocean ..................................................................... 329 7.2.5.2 Global Ocean Sea Level Rise .................................... 334 7.2.5.3 Coupled Climate System ........................................... 340 8.0 Conferences and Meetings in Physical Oceanography ..................... 343 8.1 Review Panels ............................................................................. 344 9.0 Writing Research Proposals and Research Papers ............................ 346 9.1 The Research Proposal ...............................................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Chapter 7 100 Years of the Ocean General Circulation
    CHAPTER 7 WUNSCH AND FERRARI 7.1 Chapter 7 100 Years of the Ocean General Circulation CARL WUNSCH Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts RAFFAELE FERRARI Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts ABSTRACT The central change in understanding of the ocean circulation during the past 100 years has been its emergence as an intensely time-dependent, effectively turbulent and wave-dominated, flow. Early technol- ogies for making the difficult observations were adequate only to depict large-scale, quasi-steady flows. With the electronic revolution of the past 501 years, the emergence of geophysical fluid dynamics, the strongly inhomogeneous time-dependent nature of oceanic circulation physics finally emerged. Mesoscale (balanced), submesoscale oceanic eddies at 100-km horizontal scales and shorter, and internal waves are now known to be central to much of the behavior of the system. Ocean circulation is now recognized to involve both eddies and larger-scale flows with dominant elements and their interactions varying among the classical gyres, the boundary current regions, the Southern Ocean, and the tropics. 1. Introduction physical regimes, understanding of the ocean until relatively recently greatly lagged that of the atmo- In the past 100 years, understanding of the general sphere. As in almost all of fluid dynamics, progress circulation of the ocean has shifted from treating it as an in understanding has required an intimate partnership essentially laminar, steady-state, slow, almost geological, between theoretical description and observational or flow, to that of a perpetually changing fluid, best charac- laboratory tests. The basic feature of the fluid dynamics terized as intensely turbulent with kinetic energy domi- of the ocean, as opposed to that of the atmosphere, has nated by time-varying flows.
    [Show full text]
  • The Voyage of the “Challenger”
    The Voyage of the "Challenger" From 1872 to 1876 a doughty little ship sailed the seven seas and gathered an unprecedented amount of information about them, thereby founding the science of oceanography by Herbert S. Bailey, Jr. UST 77 years ago this month a spar­ since that pioneering voyage. It was the philosophy at the University of Edin­ decked little ship of 2,300 tons Challenger, rigged with crude but in­ burgh. He did some dredging in the sailed into the harbor of Spithead, genious sounding equipment, that Aegean Sea, studying the distribution JEngland. She was home from a voyage charted what is still our basic map of of flora and fauna and their relation to of three and a half years and 68,890 the world under the oceans. depths, temperatures and other factors. miles over the seven seas. Her expedition Before the Challenger, only a few iso­ Forbes never dredged deeper than about had been a bold attack upon the un­ lated soundings had been taken in the 1,200 feet, and he acquired some curious known in the tradition of the great sea deep seas. Magellan is believed to have notions, including a belief that nothing explorations of the 15th and 16th cen­ made the Rrst. During his voyage around lived in the sea below 1,500 feet. But turies. The unknown she had explored the globe in 1521 he lowered hand lines his pioneering work led the way for the was the sea bottom. When she had left to a depth of perhaps 200 fathoms Challenger expedition.
    [Show full text]
  • Antarctica: Music, Sounds and Cultural Connections
    Antarctica Music, sounds and cultural connections Antarctica Music, sounds and cultural connections Edited by Bernadette Hince, Rupert Summerson and Arnan Wiesel Published by ANU Press The Australian National University Acton ACT 2601, Australia Email: [email protected] This title is also available online at http://press.anu.edu.au National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Title: Antarctica - music, sounds and cultural connections / edited by Bernadette Hince, Rupert Summerson, Arnan Wiesel. ISBN: 9781925022285 (paperback) 9781925022292 (ebook) Subjects: Australasian Antarctic Expedition (1911-1914)--Centennial celebrations, etc. Music festivals--Australian Capital Territory--Canberra. Antarctica--Discovery and exploration--Australian--Congresses. Antarctica--Songs and music--Congresses. Other Creators/Contributors: Hince, B. (Bernadette), editor. Summerson, Rupert, editor. Wiesel, Arnan, editor. Australian National University School of Music. Antarctica - music, sounds and cultural connections (2011 : Australian National University). Dewey Number: 780.789471 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. Cover design and layout by ANU Press Cover photo: Moonrise over Fram Bank, Antarctica. Photographer: Steve Nicol © Printed by Griffin Press This edition © 2015 ANU Press Contents Preface: Music and Antarctica . ix Arnan Wiesel Introduction: Listening to Antarctica . 1 Tom Griffiths Mawson’s musings and Morse code: Antarctic silence at the end of the ‘Heroic Era’, and how it was lost . 15 Mark Pharaoh Thulia: a Tale of the Antarctic (1843): The earliest Antarctic poem and its musical setting . 23 Elizabeth Truswell Nankyoku no kyoku: The cultural life of the Shirase Antarctic Expedition 1910–12 .
    [Show full text]
  • U·M·I University Microfilms International a Bell & Howell Information Company 300 North Zeeb Road
    INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adverselyaffect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyrightmaterial had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand corner and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6" x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. U·M·I University Microfilms International A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 North Zeeb Road. Ann Arbor. M148106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 Order Number 9429649 Subversive dialogues: Melville's intertextual strategies and nineteenth-century American ideologies Shin, Moonsu, Ph.D. University of Hawaii, 1994 V·M·I 300 N.
    [Show full text]
  • War Powers Legislation
    Volume 74 Issue 1 Issues 1 & 2 Article 9 August 1971 War Powers Legislation J. Terry Emerson Legislative Counsel to U.S. Senator Barry M. Goldwater Follow this and additional works at: https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/wvlr Part of the Legislation Commons, Military, War, and Peace Commons, and the President/Executive Department Commons Recommended Citation J. T. Emerson, War Powers Legislation, 74 W. Va. L. Rev. (1971). Available at: https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/wvlr/vol74/iss1/9 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the WVU College of Law at The Research Repository @ WVU. It has been accepted for inclusion in West Virginia Law Review by an authorized editor of The Research Repository @ WVU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Emerson: War Powers Legislation War Powers Legislation J. TERRY EMERSON* I. INTRODUCTION The Ninety-Second Congress has been marked by the unusual drama of a vigorous and persistent effort by the Legislative Branch to confront the President, eyeball to eyeball, over the primary issues of war and peace. Nowhere has the contest been joined in a more fundamental way, reaching to the very core of the division of powers between the two political branches, than in the bold thrust by several senators to codify the rules governing the circumstances in which the United States may go to and remain in war.' No less than 19 senators have introduced or cosponsored one of five different bills or joint resolutions seeking to define the instances when the President may use or deploy the Armed Forces of the United States.' Taken singly or severally, these measures purport to demark the sole conditions under which the President can initiate military hostilities and to restrict his authority to continue any such hostility beyond a brief period unless and until he has obtained a new and specific authorization from Congress.4 * A.B.
    [Show full text]
  • Miles Down! Oceanography Through History
    MILES DOWN! OCEANOGRAPHY THROUGH HISTORY The history of oceanography is an international story of invention, individual adventure, and exploration that remains little-known. This exhibition presents an historical overview, using timelines, text, photographs, and profiles of oceanographic expeditions and individual scientists from around the world. Image: Colette Kerry From water’s edge, the oceans are as mysterious as the stars. In the 21st century, deep-sea exploration – like space exploration - is no longer a fantastic idea, but a fact of scientific life. How did we move below the surface to study the depths of the sea? This exhibition tells the story of curious humans posing questions about the oceans and developing the tools and technology to move miles down to explore the sea. The oceans that cover 71% of the world’s surface hide complex worlds within their depths. How ocean waters behave, what creatures inhabit the seas, what lies on the ocean floors, what makes up seawater: these are the questions that underlie the scientific study of the oceans - the science of oceanography. Oceanography is the scientific study of the oceans as complex, interrelated systems. It is a mixed science that combines many different approaches to understanding the watery portion of our planet. Physics explores the physical properties of the oceans, the currents and waves. It’s a study of matter and energy and the relation between them. Chemistry is concerned with the properties, composition, and structure of substances in the oceans and the changes they undergo when they combine or react. The geology of the seafloor explores the earth’s history, composition, structure and processes.
    [Show full text]
  • Liminal Encounters and the Missionary Position: New England's Sexual Colonization of the Hawaiian Islands, 1778-1840
    University of Southern Maine USM Digital Commons All Theses & Dissertations Student Scholarship 2014 Liminal Encounters and the Missionary Position: New England's Sexual Colonization of the Hawaiian Islands, 1778-1840 Anatole Brown MA University of Southern Maine Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/etd Part of the Other American Studies Commons Recommended Citation Brown, Anatole MA, "Liminal Encounters and the Missionary Position: New England's Sexual Colonization of the Hawaiian Islands, 1778-1840" (2014). All Theses & Dissertations. 62. https://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/etd/62 This Open Access Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Scholarship at USM Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of USM Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. LIMINAL ENCOUNTERS AND THE MISSIONARY POSITION: NEW ENGLAND’S SEXUAL COLONIZATION OF THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS, 1778–1840 ________________________ A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTERS OF THE ARTS THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MAINE AMERICAN AND NEW ENGLAND STUDIES BY ANATOLE BROWN _____________ 2014 FINAL APPROVAL FORM THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MAINE AMERICAN AND NEW ENGLAND STUDIES June 20, 2014 We hereby recommend the thesis of Anatole Brown entitled “Liminal Encounters and the Missionary Position: New England’s Sexual Colonization of the Hawaiian Islands, 1778 – 1840” Be accepted as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Professor Ardis Cameron (Advisor) Professor Kent Ryden (Reader) Accepted Dean, College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis has been churning in my head in various forms since I started the American and New England Studies Masters program at The University of Southern Maine.
    [Show full text]
  • Uss "Vincennes"
    S. Hao, 100-1085 INVESTIGATION IfTO THE DOWNING OF AN IRANIAN AIRLINER BY THE U.S.S. "VINCENNES" HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDREDTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION SEPTEMBER 8, 1988 Printed for the use of the Committee on Armed Services U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 90-853 WASHINGTON : 1989 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Congressional Sales Office U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402 03o -" COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES SAM NUNN, Georgia, Chairman JOHN C. STENNIS, Mississippi JOHN W. WARNER, Virginia J. JAMES EXON, Nebraska STROM THURMOND, South Carolina CARL LEVIN, Michigan GORDON J. HUMPHREY, New Hampshire P)WARD M. KENNEDY, Massachusetts WILLIAM S. COHEN, Maine JEFF BINGAMAN, New Mexico DAN QUAYLE, Indiana ALAN J. DIXON, Illinois PETE WILSON, California JOHN GLENN, Ohio PHIL GRAMM, Texas ALBERT GORE, JR., Tennessee STEVEN D. SYMMS, Idaho TIMOTHY E. WIRTH, Colorado JOHN McCAIN, Arizona RICHARD C. SHELBY, Alabama ARNOLD L. PuNARO, Staff Director CAu M. SMrm, Staff Director for the Minority CHRISTINS COWART DAUTH, Chief Clerk (II) CONTENTS CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF WITNESSES Page Fogarty, Rear Adm. William M., USN, Director of Policy and Plans, U.S. Central Command, and Head of the Investigation Team accompanied by Capt. George N. Gee, USN, Director, Surface Combat Systems Division, ice of the Chief of Naval Operations and Capt. Richard D. DeBobes, Legal Adviser and Legislative Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of S taff . .......................................................................................................................... 4 Kelly, Rear Adm. Robert J., USN, Vice Director for Operations, Joint Staff ..... 17 (III) INVESTIGATION INTO THE DOWNING OF AN IRANIAN AIRLINER BY THE U.S.S.
    [Show full text]
  • Ladies and Gentlemen
    reaching the limits of their search area, ENS Reid and his navigator, ENS Swan decided to push their search a little farther. When he spotted small specks in the distance, he promptly radioed Midway: “Sighted main body. Bearing 262 distance 700.” PBYs could carry a crew of eight or nine and were powered by two Pratt & Whitney R-1830-92 radial air-cooled engines at 1,200 horsepower each. The aircraft was 104 feet wide wing tip to wing tip and 63 feet 10 inches long from nose to tail. Catalinas were patrol planes that were used to spot enemy submarines, ships, and planes, escorted convoys, served as patrol bombers and occasionally made air and sea rescues. Many PBYs were manufactured in San Diego, but Reid’s aircraft was built in Canada. “Strawberry 5” was found in dilapidated condition at an airport in South Africa, but was lovingly restored over a period of six years. It was actually flown back to San Diego halfway across the planet – no small task for a 70-year old aircraft with a top speed of 120 miles per hour. The plane had to meet FAA regulations and was inspected by an FAA official before it could fly into US airspace. Crew of the Strawberry 5 – National Archives Cover Artwork for the Program NOTES FROM THE ARTIST Unlike the action in the Atlantic where German submarines routinely targeted merchant convoys, the Japanese never targeted shipping in the Pacific. The Cover Artwork for the Veterans' Biographies American convoy system in the Pacific was used primarily during invasions where hundreds of merchant marine ships shuttled men, food, guns, This PBY Catalina (VPB-44) was flown by ENS Jack Reid with his ammunition, and other supplies across the Pacific.
    [Show full text]
  • Dupont Heritage Plan
    1 DuPont Heritage Plan Presented to the City of DuPont By the DuPont Historical Society 2014 “In a nutshell, planning is the process of figuring out where you want to go, evaluating where you are now, and identifying how you can reach your destination……. Susan L. Henry Renaud, Preservation Planning, National Park Service 2 Introduction Historic places are important to every community. In an age of change, they help provide a sense of needed continuity. Indeed, they greatly contribute to a sense of place which can unite residents. Also historic places, when properly presented, can attract tourists to a town. This would naturally benefit the local economy. The City of DuPont is blessed with many significant historic places. They include both buildings and sites. Together these places tell the amazing story of the DuPont area. This story began with the Nisqually Indian occupation of the land. It continued with the Euro-American explorers of the late 18th and early 19th Centuries. Then the British owned Hudson’s Bay Company in the 19th Century established a sequential series of trading posts called Fort Nisqually that changed life forever in the Southern Puget Sound region. Encounters with Native Americans, Missionaries, and American Settlers brought cooperation and conflict. The Medicine Creek Treaty and Puget Sound Indian War shifted the power to the Americans and their homesteads. Change came again in the early 20th Century when the DuPont Company bought land and set up an explosives factory. The Company employees and their families were first housed in temporary tar paper shacks, but soon the historic village of DuPont took shape.
    [Show full text]
  • America's Undeclared Naval War
    America's Undeclared Naval War Between September 1939 and December 1941, the United States moved from neutral to active belligerent in an undeclared naval war against Nazi Germany. During those early years the British could well have lost the Battle of the Atlantic. The undeclared war was the difference that kept Britain in the war and gave the United States time to prepare for total war. With America’s isolationism, disillusionment from its World War I experience, pacifism, and tradition of avoiding European problems, President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved cautiously to aid Britain. Historian C.L. Sulzberger wrote that the undeclared war “came about in degrees.” For Roosevelt, it was more than a policy. It was a conviction to halt an evil and a threat to civilization. As commander in chief of the U.S. armed forces, Roosevelt ordered the U.S. Navy from neutrality to undeclared war. It was a slow process as Roosevelt walked a tightrope between public opinion, the Constitution, and a declaration of war. By the fall of 1941, the U.S. Navy and the British Royal Navy were operating together as wartime naval partners. So close were their operations that as early as autumn 1939, the British 1 | P a g e Ambassador to the United States, Lord Lothian, termed it a “present unwritten and unnamed naval alliance.” The United States Navy called it an “informal arrangement.” Regardless of what America’s actions were called, the fact is the power of the United States influenced the course of the Atlantic war in 1941. The undeclared war was most intense between September and December 1941, but its origins reached back more than two years and sprang from the mind of one man and one man only—Franklin Roosevelt.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter 7 100 Years of the Ocean General Circulation
    CHAPTER 7 WUNSCH AND FERRARI 7.1 Chapter 7 100 Years of the Ocean General Circulation CARL WUNSCH Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts RAFFAELE FERRARI Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts ABSTRACT The central change in understanding of the ocean circulation during the past 100 years has been its emergence as an intensely time-dependent, effectively turbulent and wave-dominated, flow. Early technol- ogies for making the difficult observations were adequate only to depict large-scale, quasi-steady flows. With the electronic revolution of the past 501 years, the emergence of geophysical fluid dynamics, the strongly inhomogeneous time-dependent nature of oceanic circulation physics finally emerged. Mesoscale (balanced), submesoscale oceanic eddies at 100-km horizontal scales and shorter, and internal waves are now known to be central to much of the behavior of the system. Ocean circulation is now recognized to involve both eddies and larger-scale flows with dominant elements and their interactions varying among the classical gyres, the boundary current regions, the Southern Ocean, and the tropics. 1. Introduction physical regimes, understanding of the ocean until relatively recently greatly lagged that of the atmo- In the past 100 years, understanding of the general sphere. As in almost all of fluid dynamics, progress circulation of the ocean has shifted from treating it as an in understanding has required an intimate partnership essentially laminar, steady-state, slow, almost geological, between theoretical description and observational or flow, to that of a perpetually changing fluid, best charac- laboratory tests. The basic feature of the fluid dynamics terized as intensely turbulent with kinetic energy domi- of the ocean, as opposed to that of the atmosphere, has nated by time-varying flows.
    [Show full text]