ABCs to Oceanography Index of Oceanography Terms Atmosphere

ABC’s to Oceanography

Index of Oceanography Terms Ø Ø Ø Ø Atmosphere Buoyancy Currents Density Epipelagic Zone Food Chain Gulf Stream Ø Hydrophones Inertia Jason-1 Knot Lead Line Meteorology Ø Ø Ø Numerical Models Ocean Phytoplankton Quik. SCAT Rain Sea Spray Tides Upwelling Vector Wind Stress Waves Heat Flux Oceanography Zooplankton

Did you know? tmosphere v Ø Ø A thin blanket of air that protects Earth The atmosphere is crucial to life on Earth Without the atmosphere: If Earth were the size of a beach ball, the atmosphere would be thinner than a piece of paper • Organisms would die within a few minutes • There would be no lakes, oceans, sounds, clouds, or red sunsets • Earth would experience extremely cold temperatures at night and extremely warm temperatures during the day Fast Fact: 99% of the atmosphere is contained within 30 kilometers of Earth’s surface Image of the atmosphere taken from space Image of the atmosphere taken from a space shuttle

Extension of Atmosphere Ø The atmosphere and the ocean are closely linked • The entire atmosphere holds as much heat as the top 2. 5 meters (8 feet) of the ocean • The entire atmosphere holds as much water as 2. 5 centimeters (1 inch) of the ocean Ø Atmospheric Boundary Layer (ABL) - lowest part of the atmosphere • Wind strength and the heat flux between the air and ocean impact ABL thickness Ø Cloud patterns within the ABL • Cumulus & stratocumulus at the top of a humid ABL • Fog at the bottom of a stable ABL (little mixing) Cumulus Stratocumulus Fog

uoyancy Did you know? Human bodies cannot sink in the Dead Sea because the water is so dense http: //simple. wikipedia. org/wiki/Dead_Sea v A force created by differences in density Ø When two substances with different densities are mixed in a container, buoyancy causes the: • • Less dense substance to rise to the top More dense substance to sink to the bottom Ø Where is buoyancy visible in real life? • Hot air balloons rise in the air because the warm air inside the balloon is less dense than the surrounding air • Syrup sinks to the bottom of a glass of water because syrup is more dense than water

urrents Fast Fact: Surface currents affect the top 10% of the ocean v Continuous, directed movement of large streams of ocean water Ø Two major types of currents: • Surface Currents • Form when surface winds push the water in the direction of the wind • Deep Ocean Currents • Huge water masses move and mix in response to changes in water temperature and salinity Ø Why are currents important? • Currents influence the climate, ship routes, and the lives of plants Fast Fact: and animals living on land The Gulf Stream is and in oceans both a surface current and a deep ocean current http: //science. hq. nasa. gov/oceans/physical/OSC. html

Extension of Currents Ø Coriolis Effect - the earth’s rotation causes ocean currents to bend • Northern Hemisphere currents forced to the right • Southern Hemisphere currents forced to the left • Coriolis force is strongest at the Poles and weakest at the equator • The bending angle of currents increases with ocean depth • A deep ocean current may flow in a direction different than the surface current Expected path of water without Coriolis Effect Actual path of water with Coriolis Effect 20

Fast Fact: ensity All the land on earth would be covered with 5 feet of salt, if the ocean’s salt content were dried v A measure of how heavy something is in relation to its size (mass per unit volume) Ø Temperature and salinity affect the density of ocean water • What is salinity? • A measure of the amount of salt dissolved in water Ø Graph shows density of ocean water based on salinity and temperature Ø Observations from graph: • An increase in temperature results in a decrease in density • An increase in salinity results in an increase in density 16

Extension of Density Ø Ocean density changes throughout • Low density water can be found near the surface • High density water can be found deep in the ocean Ø Pycnocline – an ocean layer where water density increases rapidly with depth Ø Changes in the density of surface water: • If the density of the surface water decreases • Its position will remain the same • If the surface water becomes more dense than the water below • It will sink to a level where there is water with the same density 18 18

pipelagic Zone Epipelagic Zone Mesopelagic Zone Fast Fact: v Top layer of the ocean where sunlight is present Ø Plants take in the sunlight to complete photosynthesis Light penetrates hundreds of feet in the Caribbean, but only a few inches in the Hudson river • The epipelagic zone is the only zone where plants are found Ø What can be found below the epipelagic zone? • The mesopelagic zone, or twilight zone • The dim light found in this zone does not provide enough energy for plants to perform photosynthesis • In the 3 zones that exist beyond this zone there is zero sunlight http: //www. rain. org/ocean/

Fast Fact: ood Chain 99% of earth’s living space is contained by the oceans v A sequence of marine organisms that pass nutrients to one another Ø Sun - main source of energy for marine food chains Ø Producers take in the Sun’s energy to make their food • Phytoplankton – major producers in the ocean Ø Consumers eat other organisms since they cannot produce their own food Ø Does pollution harm the food chain? • Yes • If phytoplankton absorb marine pollutants, the pollutants eventually accumulate to lethal levels in larger animals Ø What is a food web? • Several intertwined food chains resultant of organisms belonging to more than one food chain 20