MPO 612 - LARGE-SCALE OCEAN CIRCULATION

W. JOHNS - SPRING 2008

The course will cover basic theories of the wind driven and thermohaline circulation of the oceans. Numerical models of ocean circulation and relevant observations will also be reviewed. The course will be organized around a series of seminal papers which will form the basis of classroom lectures and discussion. Grading will be based on homework assignments to follow up the reading, a mid-term or class project, and a final exam, with the following weights:

Homework 30%

Mid-term or Project 30%

Final 40%

Syllabus

Reference Slides:

• 1. Wind Stress Fields; Ekman  and Sverdrup Transports
• 2. Linear Wind-driven Models of Ocean Circulation
• 3. Non-linear Wind Driven Models of Ocean Circulation
• 4. Western Boundary Currents
• 5. Adjustment to Variable Wind Forcing
• 6. Equatorial Circulation
• 7. Thermocline Theories
• 8. Abyssal Circulation and the Global Thermohaline Cell; Ocean Heat Transport
• 9. Mesoscale Eddies and Their Role in the Large-scale Circulation

Reference Books:

Pedlosky, J. Ocean Circulation Theory, Springer-Verlag, N.Y., 1998

Pedlosky, J., Geophysical Fluid Dynamics, Springer-Verlag, N.Y., 1979

Gill, A.E., Atmosphere-Ocean Dynamics, Academic Press, N.Y., 1982.

Stommel, H., The Gulf Stream, Cambridge University Press, London, 1965.

Evolution of Physical Oceanography, C. Wunsch and B. Warren, Eds., 1982.

General Circulation of the Ocean, H. Abarbanel and W. Young, Eds., 1987

Schmitz, W., On the World Ocean Circulation, Vols. I and II, WHOI Tech. Reports, 96-03, and 96-08, 1996

Ocean Circulation and Climate (WOCE Book), G. Siedler, J. Church, and J. Gould, Eds., 2001.

• Chapter I
• Chapter II
• Chapter III
• Chapter IV
• Chapter V
• Chapter VI
• Chapter VII
• Chapter VIII
• Chapter IX
• Chapter X