42
DYNAMICAL OCEANOGRAPHY
governing equations of ocean flows. First, however, we conclude this chapter by
specifying the problems which motivate the structure of the text in parts II, III and
IV of this book.
Additional Material
B: We here touched upon the role of the ocean circulation in climate and the processes of climate variability in general. For the interested reader, the beautifully illustrated book of Ruddiman (2001) is a must. For bedtime reading on
the subject I recommend the books by Imbrie and Imbrie (1986) and Bigg
(2003).
2.4. Motivating problems and approach
There are several fundamental problems in dynamical oceanography and a few
will be discussed in this book. In this section, we sketch the different problems and
also the approach followed in later chapters to formulate theories for the particular
phenomena.
2.4.1. Western boundary currents
Looking at the surface currents as in Fig. 2.4b, we see relatively strong currents
at the western side of ocean basins and relatively weak ones at the eastern side
of these basins. This is illustrated in Fig. 2.10, where a snapshot of the observed
sea surface temperature in part of the North Atlantic Ocean is plotted. As the
wind-stress field is fairly zonally homogeneous (Fig. 2.1) there is no immediate
cause of the zonal asymmetry in the currents. If we restrict to the Atlantic Ocean,
this leads to the following specific questions:
Why does a Gulf Stream exist, i.e., why is the flow western intensified?
Which physical processes control the volume transport of the Gulf Stream?
In the chapters 5 and 6, these issues will be discussed and answers based on the
principles of geophysical fluid dynamics will be formulated. The special case of a
steady wind-driven ocean flow of constant density water is considered in chapter
5. Using asymptotic methods, the pure wind-driven flow field can be divided
into several regions where different equations (balances) apply. The solutions in
each of these regions can be determined analytically and the resulting flow field
is analyzed in chapter 6.
2.4.2. Internal variability of ocean flows
Flows in the ocean are far from stationary and vary on many time scales. A
direct cause of this temporal variability are variations in external forcing, such
DYNAMICAL OCEANOGRAPHY
governing equations of ocean flows. First, however, we conclude this chapter by
specifying the problems which motivate the structure of the text in parts II, III and
IV of this book.
Additional Material
B: We here touched upon the role of the ocean circulation in climate and the processes of climate variability in general. For the interested reader, the beautifully illustrated book of Ruddiman (2001) is a must. For bedtime reading on
the subject I recommend the books by Imbrie and Imbrie (1986) and Bigg
(2003).
2.4. Motivating problems and approach
There are several fundamental problems in dynamical oceanography and a few
will be discussed in this book. In this section, we sketch the different problems and
also the approach followed in later chapters to formulate theories for the particular
phenomena.
2.4.1. Western boundary currents
Looking at the surface currents as in Fig. 2.4b, we see relatively strong currents
at the western side of ocean basins and relatively weak ones at the eastern side
of these basins. This is illustrated in Fig. 2.10, where a snapshot of the observed
sea surface temperature in part of the North Atlantic Ocean is plotted. As the
wind-stress field is fairly zonally homogeneous (Fig. 2.1) there is no immediate
cause of the zonal asymmetry in the currents. If we restrict to the Atlantic Ocean,
this leads to the following specific questions:
Why does a Gulf Stream exist, i.e., why is the flow western intensified?
Which physical processes control the volume transport of the Gulf Stream?
In the chapters 5 and 6, these issues will be discussed and answers based on the
principles of geophysical fluid dynamics will be formulated. The special case of a
steady wind-driven ocean flow of constant density water is considered in chapter
5. Using asymptotic methods, the pure wind-driven flow field can be divided
into several regions where different equations (balances) apply. The solutions in
each of these regions can be determined analytically and the resulting flow field
is analyzed in chapter 6.
2.4.2. Internal variability of ocean flows
Flows in the ocean are far from stationary and vary on many time scales. A
direct cause of this temporal variability are variations in external forcing, such