AOSC 123 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Upwelling, Ocean Current, Thermocline

• School: University of Maryland
• Department: Atmospheric and Oceanic Science
• Course: AOSC 123
• Professor: rachelpinker

Document Summary

Lines over the pacific ocean are called isotherms which means of equal temperature. Boundary currents: flow parallel to the coast: western currents: fast, narrow jets, eastern currents: weaker. Heat transported by currents: ocean circulation transfers heat form topics towards the poles, moderating mid and high latitude climates. Circulation of deep ocean: driven by differences in water density which are caused by differences in temperature and salinity. Thermocline: almost all sunlight is absorbed in the surface layer of the ocean and heats it up. Below mixed layer, temperature drops rapidly as much as 20 degrees celsius for a 150 meter area. In earth"s oceans, 90% of the water is below the thermocline. Halocline: strong, vertical salinity gradient, expressed by the amount of salt found in 1,000 grams of water. Average ocean salinity is 35 ppt, the number varies between 32 and 37 ppt.