A&O SCI 1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Sea Ice, Subtropics, Ekman Transport
20 Oct 2016
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Document Summary
Upwelling is upward movement of water toward the surface. The water is almost always colder because the ocean has a vertical temperature structure. The energy source for upwelling occur by winds. Because of earth"s rotation, objects moving in the southern hemisphere are deflected to the left and objects moving in the northern hemisphere are deflected to the right. Net transport of water, is to the left of the wind in the southern hemisphere and right of the wind in the northern hemisphere. Two cases of upwelling are coastal and equatorial. With upwelling comes the bringing up of nutrients from the deep ocean. Wind driven surface circulation: the circulation is organized into gyres which rotate clockwise in the northern hemisphere and rotate counterclockwise in the southern hemisphere. Density increases with salinity, more salt in the water makes it more dense. Density increases with colder temperature since colder temperature is more dense. Salinity is greatest in the subtropics, where evaporation is greatest.
