ENVR 200 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Diurnal Temperature Variation, Ocean Current, Atmospheric Circulation

• School: McGill University
• Department: Environment
• Course: ENVR 200
• Professor: George Mc Court

Document Summary

Great solvent; dissolves many minerals; salty water denser than "sweet" water. Melting point: 0 degree; lower for salty ware(-4degree in oceans) Pure water is densest at 4 degree(-2degree for ocean); warmer water is less dense. Solid water(ice)is less dene than liquid water(920kg/m^3 vs 1000kg/m^3) Freezing salty water leaves salt in solution + sweeter" ice. Water bodies have high heat capacity: temperature change slowly(take long time to warm the water); high hear storage (heat capacity)relative to ground surface and air. Temperature goes down with increasing of the depth for water. 90%of radiation entering ocean is absorbed in the top100m. Warm ware is less dense than cold; warm water on top of cold is stable configuration. Surface +/-200m is well mixed and separated from deeper water. Surface currents and deep current behave differently although they are linked. More pressure naturally in the bottom, no pressure configuration to influence the temperature. Surface circulation ocean circulation is driven by he wind;