Table of Contents

Foreword vii

Preface xi

Notations xv

Chapter 1. The Vertical Distribution of Temperature in the Ocean 1

1.1. Introduction 2

1.2. Measuring the temperature of ocean waters 5

1.2.1. Ordinary thermometers 8

1.2.2. Recording thermometers 10

1.2.3. Electric thermometer 19

1.3. Sources of errors in temperature measurement 21

Chapter 2. Global Ocean Circulation 33

2.1. Introduction 34

2.2. Global ocean circulation 38

2.2.1. Geostrophic flow 40

2.2.2. Sverdrup relation: transport of planetary vorticity or effect of latitude on flow? 52

2.3. Conclusion and summary 67

Chapter 3. A Brief Consideration of Thermocline Properties 71

3.1. Modeling of the thermocline 72

3.1.1. Taking heat exchanges into account 72

3.1.2. Setting up boundary conditions 82

3.2. Assumptions used to solve the thermocline model 87

3.2.1. First simplified approaches 87

3.2.2. Approach proposed by the authors 88

3.2.3. Formulating the equation of state 93

3.2.4. Discussion 100

3.3. Characteristic properties of the thermocline 101

3.3.1. Determining the characteristic scale of the thermocline depth from measurements 101

3.3.2. Examples of empirical expressions of k0th(θ)-1 106

3.3.3. Vertical velocity at the base of the thermocline 109

3.3.4. Ocean water temperature, measurements and models 111

Chapter 4. Effect of the Ocean Mixed Layer (OML) 117

4.1. Ocean mixed layer modeling 118

4.1.1. Ekman layer 124

4.1.2. Consequences of Ekman transport 134

4.1.3. Conclusion and summary 141

4.2. Coupling between the OML and the geostrophic layer 143

4.2.1. Taking the bottom boundary layer into account 147

4.2.2. Coupling of Ekman boundary layers with the thermocline 158

4.3. Seasonal fluctuations 175

4.3.1. Role of the vertical temperature gradient in the OML 178

4.3.2. Effect of the Earth’s rotation on stratification 182

4.4. Role of sea ice 187

4.5. Thermohaline circulation 192

Conclusion 197

References 201

Index 205

Summary of Volume 1 209

About the Author

Frédéric Aitken is a CNRS researcher who has previously worked at the Electrostatics and Dielectric Materials Laboratory (LEMD) and is currently working at the Grenoble Electrical Engineering Laboratory (G2Elab). He is the former President of the Alps section of the French Society of Physics.

Jean-Numa Foulc is Honorary Professor at Grenoble Alpes University in France. He has had successive positions as an Assistant Professor and then Professor at the Universities of Rouen, Montpellier and Grenoble (Polytech Grenoble). He is currently a researcher at G2Elab.