ENV100H1 Lecture 37: 37 - Marine and Coastal Systems (I)

• School: UTSG
• Department: School of Environment
• Course: ENV100H1
• Professor: Barbara Murck

Document Summary

Mean depth 3. 8 km (absolute darkness) More people know about the surface of the moon rather than the ocean floor. Interaction between ocean and atmosphere is major driver of climate. Gases are vertically stratified: top and bottom are not same composition in terms of availability of gases (cid:862)although(cid:863) Vertical variation in: temperature (thermocline, salinity (halocline, density (pycnocline, cline = zone of rapid transition. It does not change for a while, and then there is an abrupt change. Surface water heated by solar energy; colder, saltier water is denser and sinks. This differential is important in moving heat around the globe, driving currents, etc: potentially disrupted by climate change. Not much difference between surface and depths in arctic waters. Surface: warmed by sunlight and stirred by wind, water density is low. Deeper: thermocline = temp drops, halocline = salinity increases (generally, pycnocline = density increase. Deep zone: dense, cold, sluggish water, unaffected by winds, storms, sunlight.