Physical Oceanography

(Atmosphere & Ocean Circulation)

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Outline
1. Overview of Observed Physical Patterns

Winds, Ocean Temperature, Salinity, Surface + Deep Currents

2. Atmospheric Circulation

Coriolis Force, Atmospheric Convection, Hadley Circulation, Surface Wind Patterns

3. Density Structure of the Ocean

Salinity Variations, Ocean Heating and Cooling, Seawater Density, Density Stratification,
Permanent and Seasonal Thermocline.

4. Wind-Driven Surface Circulation

Acting Forces, Ekman Transport in the Surface Ocean, Geostrophic Currents in the
Subsurface Ocean, Subtropical Gyre Circulation, Equatorial and Coastal Upwelling

5. Thermohaline Circulation of the Deep Ocean

Water Mass Identification by T-S Signature, Rate of Movement with 14C, Location of
Deepwater Formation, Global Conveyor Belt
Circulation and Global Heat Transport
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Definition of Latitudinal Regions of the Words Oceans

you do not need to memorize these, but some of them will come up in this lecture

Observed Patterns

Global Surface Wind

Patterns

1. Three primary wind belts

2. Contained within latitude
bands

0-30
30-60
60-90

3. Wind belts alternate direction
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Ocean Surface
Temperature
1. Warmest water along
the equator in the
western ocean basins

2. Coldest water near
the poles

3. Tongue of colder
water along the
eastern equatorial
region

Degrees Celsius
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Atlantic Ocean
Temperature at Depth
Meridional Section from Iceland to Antarctica

1. Warm thin surface layer

2. Cold thick deep layer

3. Thermocline separates the warm and cold layers

Ocean Surface
Salinity

1. Saltiest water in the subtropics

2. Atlantic considerably more salty than the other oceans

3. North Pacific the freshest of all regions

Parts per Thousand

Atlantic Ocean
Salinity at Depth

1. High salinity in surface layer in subtropics

2. Deep-ocean salinity more uniform and generally matches the surface
salinity at higher latitude - especially northern high latitudes.

Ocean Surface
Currents

1. Large subtropical gyres rotating clockwise in the northern hemisphere and counter
clockwise in the southern hemisphere.

2. Subpolar gyres rotating counterclockwise in the northern hemisphere and absent
in the southern hemisphere

3. Antarctic Circumpolar Current moving eastward around the Antarctic Continent.

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Deep Circulation in
the Ocean

1. Cold surface water sinks specifically at high latitudes and moves

to lower latitudes at depth.

2. Deep-water returned to the surface layer through broad diffusive
upward vertical mixing

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The Need for a Coriolis Force

Sir Isaac Newton
1642-1727

1. Sir Isaac Newtons famous F=ma law only works for a reference
coordinate system that is at rest (or at the very least not accelerating)

2. When the reference frame is itself accelerating (e.g., a car turning a
corner, a rotating merry-go-round or a rotating earth), then all
bets are off on Newtons law working unless the acceleration of the
reference frame itself is also taken into account.

3. Addition of a Coriolis force is needed to account for the acceleration
of the reference coordinate system (i.e., the latitude longitude grid on
a rotating earth) before Newtons Law can be used.
Gustave Gaspard de Coriolis
1792-1843

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Qualitative Description of the

Coriolis Force
1. Northward movement of a water parcel (green
circle) brings it closer to the axis of rotation.

2. By the principle of the conservation of a
angular momentum, the water parcel must spin
faster around axis of rotation (i.e., eastward).
3. A close analogy to this process is an ice skater that spins faster when
they draw their hands close to their body.
4. If the earth is treated as a non-rotating reference frame (which is what we want to do) then
an apparent force must be added to explain the apparent push on the parcel in the
eastward direction - this apparent force is the Coriolis Force!

5. The eastward-directed Coriolis Force in this example is also viewed as an apparent force
directed to the right of northward motion.

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All You Really Need to Know About the Coriolis Force For
This Class...
1. It arises from real physics related to the conservation of angular moment

2. In the northern hemisphere the Coriolis Force is always directed to the
right of the water parcel motion

3. In the southern hemisphere the Coriolis Force is always directed to the
left of the water parcel motion

4. The Basic Rule to determine the direction of the Coriolis Force is to
1) point your nose in the direction of the ocean current (or wind) is
moving and then 2) stick your hand directly out from your side to get the
direction of the Coriolis force - right hand for the northern hemisphere or
left hand for the southern hemisphere

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Atmospheric Circulation

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1. Material is warmed when it absorbs radiant

energy (e.g., absorbs sunlight energy)

2. Much of the visible radiant energy from the
sun (short wavelength radiation) passes
right through the atmosphere without being
absorbed and, consequently, without much
direct heating of the atmosphere from the sun.

3. The earths surface absorbs a lot of the
sunlight energy and so it becomes warm.

4. The warm earth surface radiates infra red
radiation (long wavelength radiation) from
its surface and this energy is absorbed by the
atmosphere and, consequently warms the
atmosphere.

5. So the atmosphere is heated from below by
absorbing long wavelength radiation emitted
from the warm earth surface.

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Atmospheric Convection
1. The warm ocean surface heats the
atmosphere from below

2. Warm surface air is able to hold a lot of
water vapor and so it becomes moist.

3. Warm moist surface air has low density
so it rises (like a hot air balloon) and as
it moves aloft it expands and cools

4. Cooling of air aloft causes water vapor to
condense and precipitate

5. Condensation releases latent heat that
drives the upward convection even higher

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Solar Heating of the Earth Surface

1. Solar heating of the earth
surface is most intense at
the equator where the
solar radiation is most
direct.

2. Consequently,
atmospheric convection
and precipitation is
strongest along the
equator

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Intertropical
Convergence Zone
(ITCZ)

1.

Strong surface heating by the sun along the equator drives upward atmospheric
convection, condensation and precipitation.

2.

The result is an obvious band of thick clouds that forms along the equator

3.

This region migrates north and south with summer/winter movement of the sun
overhead

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Question...
Given that the weight of a column of air is directly proportional to the average molecular
weight of the mix of all molecules making up the air column...

!

Assume dry air is mainly nitrogen gas (N2 with a molecular weight of 28) with some variable
amount of water vapor gas (H2O with a molecular weight of 18) mixed in with it.
Which type of air column would weigh less?
(i.e, produce lower sea level pressure underneath it)

!

a) air column of dry air

b) air column with high amounts of water vapor
The correct answer is (b) since the average molecular weight of the mixture of molecules
making up the air column is on average lower when overall fraction of water vapor gas is high.

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Idealized Hadley
Circulation

High SLP

Low SLP

1.

High SLP

Low SLP

Surface air at the equator warms and rises aloft. Air aloft spreads north/south and becomes more dense
as it cools and dries (due to precipitation) and then sinks at about 30 latitude.

2. Surface air at 30 spreads out north and south, warms and picks up moisture - by 60 latitude it has
warmed and moistened to the point where it rises, cools, precipitates and spreads out aloft north/south.

3. Near the poles the air aloft becomes very cold and very dense so it sinks over the poles and spreads out
toward the equator
SLP= Sea Level Pressure

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Global Sea Level Pressure Resulting from Idealized

Hadley Circulation

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Surface Winds Resulting from Pressure Differences

and Turning By the Coriolis Force

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3-D View of Idealized Hadley Circulation

polar jet stream
subtropical jet
stream

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Idealized Versus Actual Pattern of Global Sea Level Pressure And

Resulting Surface Winds

1. Differences due to unequal warming of land and ocean by the sun

2. Land warms more strongly than adjacent ocean in summer and cools more deeply than adjacent
ocean in winter - due to differences in specific25 heat of rock versus seawater.

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Physical Oceanography
(Atmosphere & Ocean Circulation)

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Outline
1. Overview of Observed Physical Patterns

Winds, Ocean Temperature, Salinity, Surface + Deep Currents

2. Atmospheric Circulation

Coriolis Force, Atmospheric Convection, Hadley Circulation, Surface Wind Patterns

3. Vertical Density Structure of the Ocean

Salinity Variations, Ocean Heating and Cooling, Seawater Density, Density Stratification,
Permanent and Seasonal Thermocline.

4. Wind-Driven Surface Circulation

Acting Forces, Ekman Transport in the Surface Ocean, Geostrophic Currents in the
Subsurface Ocean, Subtropical Gyre Circulation, Equatorial and Coastal Upwelling

5. Thermohaline Circulation of the Deep Ocean

Water Mass Identification by T-S Signature, Rate of Movement with 14C, Location of
Deepwater Formation, Global Conveyor Belt
Circulation and Global Heat Transport
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Vertical Distribution of Seawater

Density

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Why worry about the distribution of seawater density in the

ocean?
1. Vertical distribution of density directly influences the vertical movement
of water in the ocean.

2. Horizontal ocean currents are forced by the 1) direct action of winds
blowing over the ocean surface and by 2) internal pressure forces created, in
part, by the unequal distribution of density in the ocean.

NOTE: salt concentration and water temperature jointly determine seawater

density, consequently, the concepts of ocean salinity and ocean heat content are
presented in some detail.
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Surface Salinity

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Parts per Thousand

Ocean
Surface
Salinity

Much more will be said later in the semester, but surface salinity is set at the ocean surface as a
result of the exchange of fresh water between the ocean and atmosphere through evaporation and
precipitation. Rain lowers ocean salt concentration. Evaporation raises salt concentration

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The Exchange of Heat Between the

Ocean Surface and the Atmosphere

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Main Heat Flux

Components In and Out
of the Surface Ocean
1. Ocean temperature is a measure
of the heat energy contained in
the ocean.

2. When more energy enters than
leaves the ocean surface, the
ocean surface warms. Similarly,
when more heat leaves than
enters the ocean surface, the
ocean surface cools.
3.
4.
5.

Sunlight energy always adds heat to the ocean (during daylight hours).

There are lots of ways to lose heat with Evaporative Cooling often being the dominant method
of heat loss

For temperate (mid-latitude) ocean regions in spring/summer, more heat enters the ocean
from sunlight than leaves to ocean and so the surface ocean warms. In winter, more heat
leaves than comes in from sunlight and the surface ocean cools

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The Depth of Light/Energy Penetration Into the Surface Ocean Is

Relatively Shallow
1. In the clearest
open-ocean waters:
Light penetrates
down to about
150-200 meters

2. In turbid coastal
waters: light may
only penetrate a few
meters to maybe 50
meters

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Typical Vertical Profile of Temperature

1. Because sunlight energy is quickly absorbed in the
ocean, all direct solar heating takes place very
near the ocean surface (0-30 meters).

2. Vertical mixing of near-surface water can move
some of the warm water deeper, but mixing only
reaches at most to about 500 meters.

3. Seawater below 500 meters is uniformly cold.

4. The broad region centered at around 500 meters
where seawater temperature changes from warm
to uniformly cold is referred to as the permanent
thermocline

5. In some ocean regions, there is a much shallower
thermocline that only forms in summer and is then
is erased in winter. This temporary thermocline is
referred to as the seasonal thermocline
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Typical Vertical Density Profile

1. In a stably stratified ocean, the least dense
water floats above the more dense water.

2. The seasonal pycnocline (region of strong
change in density with depth) comes and goes
with net heat gains in spring and summer and
net heat losses in fall and winter

3. The permanent pycnocline remains in place
(at around 500 meters) and is the result of the
long-term balance between the downward
heating/mixing at the surface and upward
mixing of cold water from below.

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The Seasonal Thermocline

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Main Heat Flux

Components In and Out
of the Surface Ocean
1. Ocean temperature is a measure
of the heat energy contained in
the ocean.

2. When more energy enters than
leaves the ocean surface, the
ocean surface warms. Similarly,
when more heat leaves than
enters the ocean surface, the
ocean surface cools.
3.
4.
5.

Sunlight energy always adds heat to the ocean (during daylight hours).

There are lots of ways to lose heat with Evaporative Cooling often being the dominant method
of heat loss

For temperate (mid-latitude) ocean regions in spring/summer, more heat enters the ocean
from sunlight than leaves to ocean and so the surface ocean warms. In winter, more heat
leaves than comes in from sunlight and the surface ocean cools

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Seasonal Variation of Heating and Cooling of the Surface Ocean at

Mid-Latitude Regions

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Annual Range of Sea Surface Temperature

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Seasonal Change in Surface Layer Temperature and Surface Layer

Thickness

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Cartoon Depicting the Latitudinal Range of the Seasonal and

Permanent Thermocline

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Ocean Circulation
1. Ekman Transport

a slab of surface ocean water (30-60 meters thick) moved by
wind forcing

the slab of water moves at exactly 90 degrees to the direction
of the wind forcing

2. Geostrophic Currents

currents move along lines of constant pressure)

3. Formation of Subtropical Gyres

4. Deep Ocean (Abyssal) Circulation

5. The Conveyor Belt Circulation

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Ekman Transport of Water in the

Surface Friction Layer of the Ocean

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Ekman Transport Due to Wind Force,

Friction Force and Coriolis Force
Ekman Spiral: the spiraling of thin ocean
currents within the Ekman Layer

2.

top-most current moves at 45-degrees to the wind

forcing. Because of Wind+Coriolis+Friction

3.

The bottom-most current moves directly opposite

the wind direction.

4.

Ekman Transport: is the rate of total water transported in the Ekman Layer (a layer that is about
50 to 100 meters thick)

Ekman Layer

1.

5. Derived by summing all the individual thin currents sheets over the entire Ekman Layer

6. Direction is exactly at 90 degrees of the wind direction

7.

Oceanographers often treat the Ekman Layer as a slab of water (i.e., the Ekman Layer) that moves
in unison at 90 degrees to the right (northern hemisphere) or left (southern hemisphere) of the wind
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direct

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Geostrophic Motion/Currents in
the Subsurface Layer of the Ocean

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Top View of Horizontal Pressure Gradient

Response of Fluid in the Deep

Ocean Due to Pressure Gradient
Force and Coriolis Force
1.

Fluid first responds to pressure gradient

force (blue arrow) and moves down the
pressure gradient toward lower pressure

2.

Coriolis force (red arrow) always

pushes the fluid to the right of its
present direction of travel

3.

The fluid continues to be pushed by Coriolis until the Coriolis force is directed equal and opposite of the pressure
gradient force - at which point the two forces cancel and the fluid move at steady speed (no acceleration) - remember
too that there is not friction to bring this steady motion to a halt!

4.

The point at which currents move with steady speed with Coriolis and pressure gradient forces in prefect opposition is
referred to as geostrophic balance and the resulting current is referred to as a geostrophic current.

5.

Notice that fully developed geostrophic currents move along lines of constant pressure (black lines in the figure
above)

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Formation of Subtropical Gyres

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If a mound of water builds up at the surface of the ocean, a central high pressure develops
under the mound and circular geostrophic currents develop
1. Dark lines are contours of constant
pressure that decrease away from
the center of the mound region.

2. Yellow arrows are the direction of
fluid motion (geostrophic currents)
for a northern hemisphere mound.

3. Light Blue Arrows point out the
directions of the pressure gradient
force - toward lower pressure

4. Red Arrows point out the Coriolis
force and are directed to the right
of fluid motion - and in this case to
the center of the high pressure

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Development of the Subtropical Gyre in Response to Forcing by the Westerly

and Trade Wind Belts
1. Westerly and Trade Winds drive the Ekman
Layer to the center of the gyre to create a
mound of surface water

2. A center of high pressure develops under the
mound of surface water.

3. The fluid initially moves away from the center of
high pressure

4. the push of Coriolis turns the fluid until it
travels along concentric lines of constant
pressure - geostrophic balance

5. Note that Coriolis force always points toward the
center of high pressure and in the northern
hemisphere the right hand Coriolis rule then
requires concentric clockwise motion to achieve a
center directed Coriolis force. Counterclockwise
motion is needed in the southern hemisphere with
its left hand Coriolis Rule

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Western Intensification of Gyre Circulation

1.

Currents on western side of all subtropical gyres are called western boundary currents - they are very
swift and narrow jets that bring warm water from the tropics to high latitudes

2. Currents on eastern side of all subtropical gyres are called eastern boundary currents - they are broad
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and slow and bring cold water from the high latitudes
toward the tropics.

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Equatorial & Coastal Upwelling

A Result of Ekman Transport

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Equatorial Upwelling
1. North East Trade Winds drive
Ekman Transport of the surface
layer to the north

2. South East Trade Winds drive
Ekman Transport of the surface
layer to the south

3. The parting of the surface
water to the north and south
requires, by continuity, that deep
water rises upward to the surface
along the Equator.
4. Surface water also piles up on the western side of the ocean basin forcing a downward tilt to
the thermocline

5. Water is drawn up from the base to the shallow surface Ekman Depth. If the thermocline is
close the Ekman Depth, then cold water is drawn to the surface and if the thermocline is
deep only more warm water is drawn the the surface

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Sea Surface Temperature in the Equatorial Pacific

1.

Eastern Equatorial Pacific Cold Tongue - due to equatorial upwelling AND the close proximity of
the thermocline to surface Ekman Depth

2. Western Equatorial Pacific Warm Pool - upwelling still occurs, but the thermocline is much deeper
than the surface Ekman Depth so upwelling just draws more warm water to the surface with no
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effective cooling.

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Coastal Upwelling Along the

Washington Oregon Coast

Upwelling Favorable Winds

Downwelling Favorable Winds

1. Wind blowing out of the

north drives the Ekman
layer to the right (northern
hemisphere) which is
offshore

2. The offshore transport of
the Ekman surface layer is
replaced by upwelling of
deeper cold water along the
coast
3. Wind blowing out of the south drives the Ekman Layer again to the right (because northern
hemisphere) which is onshore

4. The onshore transport of the Ekman surface layer is driven downward - a process called
downwelling

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Thermohaline Circulation in the

Deep Ocean

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Temperature-Salinity Signatures
of the three Major Water Masses
in the Global Ocean
1. NADW: North Atlantic Deep Water

2. AABW: Antarctic Bottom Water

3. AAIW: Antarctic Intermediate Water

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Water Masses of the North Atlantic

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Circulation of Deep
Water in the Global
Ocean
1.

Cold dense water sinks

in the North Atlantic
and around Antarctica to
form deep water

2. North Pacific salinity is

too low to sink even
though temperatures are
just as cold as the North
Atlantic
3. Deep water in the North Atlantic moves south and mergers with Antarctic water in the Southern Ocean
as they both swing around Antarctica and up into the Indian and Pacific Ocean basin.

4. The oldest deep waters (c.a., 2000 years) are in the
59 deep Pacific.

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Locations of Deep Water Formation in the North Atlantic

1) Labrador, 2) Irminger, 3) Greenland and 4) Norwegian Seas

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Locations of Deep Water

Formation Around
Antarctica
1) Ross and 2) Weddell Sea

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Global Conveyor Belt Circulation

Combining the Deep Circulation and the Wind-Driven
Surface Circulation

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Conveyor Belt Circulation: A Super Idealized Pattern

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Conveyor Belt Circulation: A Heavily Idealized Pattern

Plate 1. Schematic of the global overturning circulation. See text for explanation. From Kuhlbrodt et al. (2007).

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Schematic of Heat
Transport by the Global
Conveyor Belt Circulation
1.

Heat is gained by the

surface ocean at low
latitudes and transported
via the wind-driven surface
circulation (western
boundary currents)to higher
latitudes.

2. Heat is given up by the

ocean to the atmosphere at
higher latitudes to warm
these regions.

3. After giving up heat at high latitudes, surface water sinks and enters the thermohaline deep circulation
and eventually is returned to the surface to pick up
more heat and start the journey all over again.
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Most Heat Transport to High

Latitudes is Done by Strong
Western Boundary Currents
1. Western Europe experiences
mild winters, relative to
Northern Canada, because
the Gulf Stream brings
warm ocean water
northward to warm the
atmosphere off the coast.

2. Westerly winds then carry
the warm coastal air over
land.

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