Chapter 11
Some Advances and
Retreats in the Study
of Ocean Circulation
since 1935
JOSEPH L. REID
INTRODUCTION
This is an account of a few of the major findings about large-scale ocean circulation
of the last few decades and perhaps some evaluations and comments on the past work.
We have collected vast amounts of data, from conventional hydrographic measurements with bottles and thermometers, bathythermographs, CTDs, ADCPs, current
meters, drogues, drifters, and satellites. And we have computers that let us process,
map, and calculate at speeds that we could not have dreamed of in 1950.
The data set has revealed many features new to the field, confirmed many
others, corrected some serious errors of the past, and allowed many investigations
that had not been possible before. Most of our findings about ocean circulation have
resulted from measurements of the ocean. The major theoretical results so far—Ekman
Joseph L. Reid, Professor Emeritus, Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
165
Some Advances and
Retreats in the Study
of Ocean Circulation
since 1935
JOSEPH L. REID
INTRODUCTION
This is an account of a few of the major findings about large-scale ocean circulation
of the last few decades and perhaps some evaluations and comments on the past work.
We have collected vast amounts of data, from conventional hydrographic measurements with bottles and thermometers, bathythermographs, CTDs, ADCPs, current
meters, drogues, drifters, and satellites. And we have computers that let us process,
map, and calculate at speeds that we could not have dreamed of in 1950.
The data set has revealed many features new to the field, confirmed many
others, corrected some serious errors of the past, and allowed many investigations
that had not been possible before. Most of our findings about ocean circulation have
resulted from measurements of the ocean. The major theoretical results so far—Ekman
Joseph L. Reid, Professor Emeritus, Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
165