Oceanography

Continental shelves and slopes.

1) Continental shelves - gently (0.1°) seaward-sloping shallow submarine

platforms at the edges of continents.
- Range in width from a few km to >500 km.
- Typically covered with young sediments.
2) Continental slopes - relatively steep slopes (typically 4-5°, but locally much
steeper) that extend down from the edge of the continental shelf to the
abyssal plain.

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The deepest natural trench in the world is Mariana Trench at 10,994 meters (36,070 feet)
below sea level.

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Physical properties of seawater.
Primary properties we need to look at are the following as they define the
circulation and mixing of different waters.

Temperature: in situ and potential Temperature.

Salinity: Conductivity.
Depth: Pressure.
Density: Sigma-t, specific volume anomaly.

1) Temperature.
The ocean can be divided into three vertical zones, depending on temperature:
The top layer is the surface layer, or mixed layer. This layer is influenced by solar
energy, wind and rain. The second layer is the thermocline. Here, the water
temperature drops as the depth increases. The third layer is the deep-water layer.
Water temperature in this zone decreases slowly as depth increases. Water
temperature in the deepest parts of the ocean averages about 2° Celsius.
Temperature can change through:
• Heat input/loss at the surface
• Mixing with other waters
• With increasing pressure
• Friction (usually negligible)

2) Salinity.
Salinity is a dimensionless quantity. It has no units. Usually refers as PPT – parts per
thousand, or some literature refers as PSU – practical salinity unit. The variability

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of dissolved salt is very small, and we must be very careful to define salinity in ways
that are accurate and practical. The range of salinity for most of the ocean's water
is from 34.60 to 35.0 parts per thousand. The layer where the salinity rapidly
increases as the depth increases is called halocline.

Salinity can change through:

• Evaporation/precipitation at the sea surface
• Ice formation
• Freshwater inputs (rivers, groundwater)
• Mixing with other waters

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 The representation of the processes of mixing of the water masses of the ocean
on a T-S (T-temperature, S-salinity of sea water) diagram. A graph of temperature
and salinity at all depths in water column.

Fun fact: A freshwater fish does not drink water. It uses large kidneys to generate
copious quantities of dilute urine to export the invading water, and it actively
absorbs salts through its gills from both the surrounding water and from its own
urine. If these activities are not suppressed, the freshwater fish will dehydrate in
the ocean and perish.

3) Pressure.
Pressure is the force per unit area. A function of gravity, density and depth,
If we assume that density constant, then we can use the hydrostatic equation to
calculate the pressure:

P = -r g z

(z is the vertical coordinate hence the negative sign)

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Or if we have different columns of water with equal pressure but different density
then the height of the water columns would be different.

4) Density.
The world ocean density range is between 1021 – 1070 kgm-3. Differences of 0.01
kgm3 between two locations can have important dynamics consequences. Accurate
direct measurement of density is very difficult and cannot be done in-situ. An
equation of state expresses density as a function of T,S, and P. Density increase
when pressure and salinity increase. The layer where the density rapidly increases
as the depth increases is called pynocline.

Thermohaline Circulation.
As opposed to wind-driven currents and tides (which are due to the gravity of moon
and sun), the thermohaline circulation is that part of the ocean circulation which is
driven by density differences. Sea water density depends on temperature and
salinity, hence the name thermo-haline. The salinity and temperature differences
arise from heating/cooling at the sea surface and from the surface freshwater
fluxes (evaporation and sea ice formation enhance salinity; precipitation, runoff
and ice-melt decrease salinity). Heat sources at the ocean bottom play a minor role.
In contrast to the wind-driven currents, the thermohaline circulation is not

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confined to surface waters but can be regarded as a big overturning of the world
ocean, from top to bottom.

Schematic representation of the global thermohaline circulation.

Surface currents are shown in red, deep waters in light blue and bottom waters in
dark blue. The main deep water formation sites are shown in yellow. (Stefan
Rahmstorf, n.d).

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Whale can use sound to communicate, to avoid obstacles while swimming and to
locate and even kill prey.

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Tides
A periodic movement that is directly related in amplitude and phase to a periodic
geophysical force. The dominant geophysical forcing is the gravitational field on the
surface of the earth, caused by regular movements of the moon-earth and earth-
sun systems. Gravitational tides are due to gravitational forces. Meanwhile,
radiation or meteorological tides are due to meteorological forcing.

Tides are waves that travel across ocean basins. They are long or shallow-water
waves (wavelengths >> ocean depth). They occur due to complex interactions of
the earth, moon and sun system. Tides are caused by two principal forces: 1)
Gravitational attraction and 2) Centrifugal force.

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Spring Tides and Neap Tides
The large tides caused by the linear alignment of the sun, Earth and moon are called
spring tides. During spring tides, high tides are very high and low tides very low.
These tides occur at two-week intervals corresponding to the new moon and full
moons. Neap tides occur when the moon, Earth and sun form a right angle. During
neap tides, high tides are not very high and low tides are not very low. Neap tides
also occur two-week intervals, with the neap tide arriving a week after the spring
tides.

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The Earth were a perfect sphere without large continents, all areas on the planet
would experience two equally proportioned high and low tides every lunar day. The
large continents on the planet, however, block the westward passage of the tidal
bulges as the Earth rotates. Unable to move freely around the globe, these tides
establish complex patterns within each ocean basin that often differ greatly from
tidal patterns of adjacent ocean basins or other regions of the same ocean basin.

Three basic tidal patterns occur along the Earth’s major shorelines. In general, most
areas have two high tides and two low tides each day. When the two highs and the
two lows are about the same height, the pattern is called a semidiurnal tide. If the
high and low tides differ in height, the pattern is called a mixed semidiurnal tide.
Some area has only one high and one low tide each day. This is called a diurnal tide.

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Tidal crests rotate amphidromic points. Means “no tide” points in the open ocean.
Because of the shape and placement of the landmasses around the ocean basins,
the tidal crests and troughs cancel each other at these points. The largest tidal
ranges occur at the edge of the largest ocean basins, especially in bays or inlets that
concentrate tidal energy because of their shape. If the basin is narrow and
restricted, the tide wave crest cannot rotate around an amphidromic point and
simply moves into and out of the bay. A tidal bore is a steep wave moving
upstream that is generated by the action of the crest in the enclosed area of a river
mouth.

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Waves

The wave crest is the highest part of the wave above average water level. The wave
trough is the valley between wave crests below average water level. The wave
height is the vertical distance between a wave crest and the adjacent trough and
wavelength is the horizontal distance between two successive crests.

A free wave is formed and then propagates across the sea surface without the
further influence of the force that formed it. A forced wave is maintained by its
disturbing force. Wind waves form when a water surface irregularity deflects wind
upward, slows it, and causes some of the wind’s energy to be transferred into the
water to drive the wave crest forward. Fetch is the distance wind blows across the
ocean to generate sets of wind waves.

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Tsunami are caused by the rapid displacement of ocean water. If a geological
displacement occurs slowly or is of insufficient magnitude, no tsunami will develop.
Tsunami move at high speeds – 750km per hour is typical. A ship on the open ocean
that encounters a tsunami with a 16 minute period would rise to a crest only 0.3 to
0.6 meter above average water level. Tsunami are not dangerous in the open
ocean. Unless the location is very close to the causal epicenter, tsunami typically
come ashore as a series of waves at regular intervals.

Coasts and estuaries

Coasts are shaped by marine and terrestrial processes. The place where ocean
meets land is usually called the shore. Coast refers to the larger zone affected by

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the processes that occur at this boundary. Erosional coasts are shaped and attacked
from the land by stream erosion, abrasion by wind-driven grit, glacial activity,
rainfall, dissolution by acids from soil, and slumping. From the sea, large storm surf
routinely generates tremendous pressures. Tiny pieces of sand, bits of gravel or
stones hurled by the waves are effective at eroding the shore. Over time, erosional
shorelines can evolve into depositional coast. The most common feature of a
depositional coast is the sandy beach. Tidal range, pattern and height coupled with
wave action are the most important factor determining beach profile. The
movement of sediment along the coast, driven by wave action is referred to as long
shore drift. Longshore drift occurs in two ways; the wave-driven movement of sand
along the exposed beach and the current driven movement of sand in the surf zone
just offshore.

A broad continent shelf must be present to provide a platform on which sediment

can accumulate to form a delta. Tidal range must be low, and waves and currents
are generally mild. Deltas are most common on the low energy shores of enclosed
seas and along the tectonically stable trailing edges of some continents. Coral
animals, some forms of cynobacteria and mangroves are effectives at modifying
coastlines. The greatest of all biologically modified coasts is the Great Barrier Reef
in Queensland, Australia.

An estuary is a body of water partially surrounded by land, where fresh water from
a river mixes with ocean water. By water circulation patterns, estuaries are
classified as salt wedge, well mixed, partially mixed and fjords.

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Life in the Ocean
Planktonic organisms can swim but they can’t make significant headway against the
currents in which they drift. Phytoplankton are drifting in the water column while
zooplankton are able to swim in water column. The suspension feeder strain
plankton and tiny organic food particles from the surrounding water.
Phytoplankton is an autotrophs which means an organism capable of making its
own food from inorganic nutrients. Not all plankton are autotrophic. Heterotrophic
depend on autotrophs for nutrition. Lack of light and lack of nutrients are especially
limiting to phytoplankton productivity.

Productivity in tropics is generally low because of nutrient deficiency, and the

north polar ocean suffers from slow nutrient turnover and low illumination, so the
over all productivity prize goes to the temperate and southern subpolar zones.
Water circulating in the great tropical gyres has abundant sunlight and CO2 but it
generally deficient in surface nutrients because the strong thermocline discourages
the vertical mixing necessary to bring nutrients up from the depths. The tropical
oceans away from land are therefore often considered oceanic deserts nearly
devoid of visible plankton.

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The Law of the Sea

The Law of the Sea governs marine resource allocation. The nations hold
sovereignty over resources, economic activities and environmental protection
within their exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The United Nations holds nominal
control over the Law of the Sea policies. The territorial waters are defined as
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extending 18.2 km (12 nautical miles) from shore. A nation has the right to
jurisdiction within its territorial waters. Straits used for international navigation are
excluded from a nation’s territorial waters in that any vessel has right to innocent
passage. The 370km (200 nautical miles) from a nation’s shoreline constitutes its
EEZ. All oceans are outside the EEZ are considered the high seas. In tradition, the
high seas are common property to be shared by the citizen of the world.

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Main reference:

Garrison, T., & Ellis, R. (2014). Oceanography: An invitation to marine

science.

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