Model of world ocean circulation: III. Thermally and wind driven

A model of world ocean circulation driven by wind-stresses and differential heating is developed for a two-layer ocean with idealized boundaries and constant depth. The principal focus of the present study is the determination of the magnitudes and locations of localized sources and sinks of upper-layer water. The effect of differential heating is parameterized here by a uniform upwelling of deep water through the interface (thermocline)...

A Tribute to Melvin E. Stern (1929–2010)

Melvin Stern was a brilliant theoretician who introduced a number of innovative ideas in oceanography. These include his (a) penetrating introduction of double diffusive processes, (b) introduction of MODONS, the important, small scale, coherent features in the ocean, (c) incisive studies of rotating hydraulics, (d) investigation into bores, jumps and boundary flows, (e) analyses of the role of vortices in ocean dynamics, and (f) frequent contributions to instabilities in the ocean. He tended to think very intuitively, not unlike Henry Stommel. When he introduced a new idea, he accompanied it with a very thorough analysis. Generally speaking, he communicated most effectively in one-on-one situations, particularly with his graduate students. In these situations he was a wonderful and positive critic. His ideas, particularly his work on salt fingers, permeated the field and led to extensive developments of topics that today are fundamental elements on which our understanding of oceanic processes is built

Henry Melson Stommel: 27 September, 1920 - 17 January, 1992

Henry Stommel\u27s heart stopped beating shortly after midnight on Friday, January 17, 1992, four days after he had undergone surgery for liver cancer at Deaconness Hospital in Brookline, Mass. His death brought to an end the career of a man who, for 45 years, was the most significant scientific contributor to the development of oceanography and who brought a rare degree of harmony and collegiality to the field

Notes on the 1967 Summer Study Program in Geophysical Fluid Dynamics at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Originally issued as Reference No. 67-54In former years some of the research and seminars of the WHOI Geophysical Fluid Dynamics program was concerned with determining the interior structure and motions of stars and galaxies. This year we have focused our attention downward rather than upward and have attempted to learn some things about the earth's interior. Freeman Gilbert's lectures on the inverse problem in seismology discuss one aspect of the geophysicist's attempts to infer some things about the earth's interior from the evidence which is available at the surface. Paul Robert presented a survey of the difference attempts to attribute the earth's magnetic field to dynamo action. Willem Malkus, Raymond Hide and Stephen Childress supplemented Roberts' lectures with seminars. As students of our physical environment all of us were entertained and stimulated by this introduction to the netherworld.National Science Foundatio

Henry Sears (1913–1982)

Henry Sears led a remarkably varied life centered on a love of sailing, racing and fishing. Even as a youngster he spent considerable time at sea because he had asthma and in those days sea air was considered beneficial for one with that ailment. He owned a Swampscott Dory at the age of eight and soon afterwards was sailing a 30-footer from Boston to the Maine coast. His education was unusual. It seems that he was dyslexic, although at the time of his birth dyslexia was not identified as such. During his childhood his family spent three months of the year in each of four locations: Boston, Paris, Beverly (MA) and Bryn Mawr. Sears spoke French fluently. The family traveled with tutors, so for much of his early life he was tutored, as was his sister, Mrs. Henry Cabot Lodge, with whom he lived during part of his teens. He spent part of the period from 1920 to 1925 in Europe where he was schooled at the Ecole Gory in Paris in 1923 and he attended St. Mark’s School in Southborough, MA, from 1928 to 1930. He left St. Mark’s in 1930 announcing his intention to study at Brooks School, but the latter has no record of him. Therefore, there is a real probability that his formal education ended at St. Mark’s, even though many accounts report him as having studied oceanography at Yale

Classic Article: On properties of seawater defined by temperature, salinity, and pressure

Hydrographic station data, consisting principally of temperature and salinity determinations, have been used by physical oceanographers to develop a climatological picture of the distribution of these quantities in the oceans of the world. Density as determined by Knudsen\u27s formula, taken together with hydrostatic and geostrophic dynamics, also provides a crude picture of oceanic flow. However, the data probably contain substantially more information than has been derived from them in the past.The quantity that is orthogonal to potential-density curves in the θS plane is suggested as a useful variable to complement the information contained in potential density. The derivation of this quantity, denoted by τ in this paper, is straightforward. A polynomial expression for τ that is suitable for computer calculations of τ from hydrographic station data is given. Shown are examples of hydrographic station data from the Atlantic plotted on the τσθ diagram. The information contained in the τσθ diagram shows many of the features exhibited in the TS plane. Vertical sections of τ appear to provide information about mixing in different parts of the Atlantic. The distribution of τ for abyssal waters at selected stations in the oceans of the world resembles the distribution of abyssal density as plotted by Lynn and Reid (1968). From the data presented, it appears that τ may serve as a good tracer for abyssal water movements.Since τ is defined to be orthogonal to σθ, the expectation is that τ is a dynamically passive variable. However, since σθ does not correlate with abyssal densities, it appears to lose dynamical significance at great depth, and τ assumes dynamical significance because of its orthogonality to σθ. This unexpected feature leads to an exploration of the dynamical significance of σθ. A natural starting point is the question of stability of abyssal water. A distinction is made between stability as determined by in situ determinations and as determined by the potential-density (σθ) distribution. Simple examples are presented to show that analysis based on σθ alone can lead to incorrect conclusions about gravitational stability of the water in the abyssal ocean. The reason is that seawater is a multicomponent thermodynamic system, and the thermodynamic coefficients are functions of pressure, salinity, and temperature. This functional dependence leads to adjustments in density as a water particle moves adiabatically in the vertical direction so that a layer of water that appears to be unstable near the surface may be stable (as determined by in situ determination) at great depth. A local potential density, which is simply the vertical integral of the in situ stability, is derived. This quantity gives a precise picture of gravitational stability in the vertical direction. Some distributions of local potential density are shown

Notes on the 1963 Summer Study Program in Geophysical Fluid Dynamics at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Originally issued as Reference No. 63-34, series later renamed WHOI-.This year's lectures by Derek Moore form a detailed report of investigations on the fluid motion caused by the motion of a body in a homogeneous rotating fluid. The emphasis has been on the significance of the Taylor-Proudman theorem and the departure of the fluid from the behavior described by the Taylor-Proudman theorem. The plan was to probe deeply into one problem and thereby acquire information in a wider area of study of rotating fluids.National Science Foundation under Research Grant NSF GE-15l

On properties of seawater defined by temperature, salinity, and pressure

Hydrographic station data, consisting principally of temperature and salinity determinations, have been used by physical oceanographers to develop a climatological picture of the distribution of these quantities in the oceans of the world. Density as determined by Knudsen\u27s formula, taken together with hydrostatic and geostrophic dynamics, also provides a crude picture of oceanic flow...

The 1963 summer program of theoretical studies in geophysical fluid dynamics

Originally issued as Reference No. 63-38, series later renamed WHOI-.The program in Geophysical Fluid Dynamics for the summer of 1963 was a program of work, study and discussion and was formally outlined through two courses of lectures - one on the dynamics of rotating fluids, the other, a special lecture series on astrophysics. The twenty-three participants attempted to formulate and analyze tractable problems in geophysics and astrophysics.National Science Foundation under Research Grant NSF GE-15l

A Tribute to Doreen Orciari

With her retirement this year Doreen Orciari will end her 36th year at Yale, 32 of them as editorial assistant at the Journal of Marine Research. She came to work for me as my secretary in December, 1976, when I was chairman of the Department of Geology and Geophysics. It turns out that she was the best Christmas present that I have ever had. Doreen was born and raised as an Irish Catholic in New Haven and spent her youth in somewhat of a dysfunctional family. She spent 12 years amid Catholic nuns who served to add structure to her upbringing, but if asked, Doreen would say that their influence on her life was not a happy one..