This book presents an in-depth discussion of the biological and ecological geography of the oceans. It synthesizes locally restricted studies of the ocean to generate a global geography of the vast marine world.Based on patterns of algal ecology, the book divides the ocean into four primary compartments, which are then subdivided into secondary compartments.*Includes color insert of the latest in satellite imagery showing the world's oceans, their similarities and differences*Revised and updated to reflect the latest in oceanographic research*Ideal for anyone interested in understanding ocean ecology -- accessible and informative

An overview of the advances made in the last decade and a half in this field. Based on an advanced graduate level course, the book represents fundamental insights into the structure of the physical theory of the large-scale dynamics of the oceans. The author has maintained throughout a blend of analytical and numerical results so as to achieve as deep a physical understanding of the dynamics of the large-scale circulations as possible. The results of the theories are compared with observations and the success or inadequacies of the theories are highlighted. Topics of particular interest are: theory of the wind-driven circulation, the thermocline, the equatorial circulation and the abyssal circulation. Much of the material - previously scattered throughout the literature - has been collated here for the first time.

This book presents the views of leading scientists on the knowledge of the global ocean circulation following the completion of the observational phase of the World Ocean Circulation Experiment. WOCE's in situ physical and chemical measurements together with satellite altimetry have produced a data set which provides for development of ocean and coupled ocean-atmosphere circulation models used for understanding ocean and climate variability and projecting climate change. This book guides the reader through the analysis, interpretation, modelling and synthesis of this data.

An innovative survey of large-scale ocean circulation that links observations, conceptual models, numerical models, and theories.

Published by the American Geophysical Union as part of the Geophysical Monograph Series, Volume 173. The ocean's meridional overturning circulation (MOC) is a key factor in climate change. The Atlantic MOC, in particular, is believed to play an active role in the regional and global climate variability. It is associated with the recent debate on rapid climate change, the Atlantic Multi-Decadal Oscillation (AMO), global warming, and Atlantic hurricanes. This is the first book to deal with all aspects of the ocean's large-scale meridional overturning circulation, and is a coherent presentation, from a mechanistic point of view, of our current understanding of paleo, present-day, and future variability and change. It presents the current state of the science by bringing together the world's leading experts in physical, chemical, and biological oceanography, marine geology, geochemistry, paleoceanography, and climate modeling. A mix of overview and research papers makes this volume suitable not only for experts in the field, but also for students and anyone interested in climate change and the oceans.

The increase in levels of population and human development in coastal areas has led to a greater importance of understanding atmosphere-ocean interactions. This second volume on atmosphere-ocean interactions aims to present several of the key mechanisms that are important for the development of marine storms.

It provides a concise introduction to the dynamics and thermodynamics of oceanic general circulation.

The book represents all the knowledge we currently have on ocean circulation. It presents an up-to-date summary of the state of the science relating to the role of the oceans in the physical climate system. The book is structured to guide the reader through the wide range of world ocean circulation experiment (WOCE) science in a consistent way. Cross-references between contributors have been added, and the book has a comprehensive index and unified reference list. The book is simple to read, at the undergraduate level. It was written by the best scientists in the world who have collaborated to carry out years of experiments to better understand ocean circulation. - Presents in situ and remote observations with worldwide coverage - Provides theoretical understanding of processes within the ocean and at its boundaries to other Earth System components - Allows for simulating ocean and climate processes in the past, present and future using a hierarchy of physical-biogeochemical models

The ocean has entranced mankind for as long as we have gazed upon it, traversed it, dived into it, and studied it. It remains ever changing and seemingly never changing. Each wave that progresses through the. imme diate surf zone on every coast is strikingly different, yet the waves come again and again, as if never to end. The seasons come with essential reg ularity, and· yet each is individual-whatever did happen to that year of the normal rainfall or tidal behavior? This fascination with the currents of the ocean has always had a most immediate practical aspect: shipping, transportation, commerce, and war have depended upon our knowledge, when we had it, and floundered on our surprising ignorance more often than we wish to reflect. These important practical issues have commanded attention from commercial, academic, and military research scientists and engineers from the earliest era of organized scientific investigation. The matter of direct and insistent investigation was from the outset the behavior of ocean currents with long time scales; namely, those varying on annual or at least seasonal cycles. Planning for all the named enterprises depended, as they still do, of course, on the ability to predict with some certainty this class of phenomena. That ability, as with most physical sci ence, is predicated on a firm basis of observational fact to establish what, amorig the myriad of mathematical possibilities, is chosen by Nature as her expression of fact.

The realism of large scale numerical ocean models has improved dra matically in recent years, in part because modern computers permit a more faithful representation of the differential equations by their algebraic analogs. Equally significant, if not more so, has been the improved under standing of physical processes on space and time scales smaller than those that can be represented in such models. Today, some of the most challeng ing issues remaining in ocean modeling are associated with parameterizing the effects of these high-frequency, small-space scale processes. Accurate parameterizations are especially needed in long term integrations of coarse resolution ocean models that are designed to understand the ocean vari ability within the climate system on seasonal to decadal time scales. Traditionally, parameterizations of subgrid-scale, high-frequency mo tions in ocean modeling have been based on simple formulations, such as the Reynolds decomposition with constant diffusivity values. Until recently, modelers were concerned with first order issues such as a correct represen tation of the basic features of the ocean circulation. As the numerical simu lations become better and less dependent on the discretization choices, the focus is turning to the physics of the needed parameterizations and their numerical implementation. At the present time, the success of any large scale numerical simulation is directly dependent upon the choices that are made for the parameterization of various subgrid processes.