MSCI 210 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Thermocline, Ocean Current, Refraction
Document Summary
Western boundary currents: warm, narrow, deep, sharp boundary w/ coastal circulation. The slow, large-scale circulation of deep water masses driven by changes in seawater density thermo=heat. Processes disturbing density stratification: surface cooling and salt addition causes surface waters to become more dense and sink, when this new dense water sinks, displaces less dense water that moves up. Waves propagate energy, not mass: little permanent displacement of the material itself. Wave motion: they move by transmission of energy by cyclic movement through matter, water itself does not travel, wave motion is not a flow of water//its a flow of energy. Major factord that increase wave energy: wind speed, duration, fetch. Dispersion: natural process by which waves are sorted into groups of waves. 2 types of waves: deep water waves, shallow water waves. Interference patterns; form when two or more waves collide: constructive: makes bigger wave, destructive: waves get smaller, mixed: a combo of constructive and destructive: most common.
