EOSC 112 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Ice, Atmospheric Circulation, Mixed Layer

• School: UBC
• Department: Earth and Ocean Sciences
• Course: EOSC 112
• Professor: Hobart Joe

Document Summary

Density stratification is the process by which substances of different densities order themselves, with the low density substances on top and the higher density substances below. We can plot the density down through the glass (blue curved line in plot on the right). The horizontal axis is density, from low on the left to high on the right. The vertical axis is depth in the glass. The density curve shows lower density in the upper part of the glass, and the density stays pretty much the same throughout that layer. The liquid in the deep part of the glass has higher density, and again the density is pretty much the same through the lower layer. This situation is analogous to what happens in the ocean. The upper layer we call the mixed layer . In the ocean, the wind mixes the upper layer so that the water becomes pretty much homogeneous close to the surface.