Surface and Deep Ocean Circulation

V1003 - Science and Society

 Take away ideas
Ocean Temperatures and Salinity
Deep ocean properties
Wind driven surface ocean circulation
Wind fields and Geostrophic flow
Thermohaline deep ocean circulation
Why and where deep waters form
Incoming (and outgoing) radiation
Sea-surface temperatures
 Two forces drive ocean circulation:

1. Wind stress acting on the ocean surface

2. Buoyancy [heat & freshwater] flux between ocean and

atmosphere

Wind-driven is more vigorous than buoyancy [or

thermohaline] driven circulation, but wind-driven is mostly
upper km, thermohaline is full depth and involves ocean
overturning, in which the deep ocean waters can contact
and interact directly with the ‘climate’
A. Surface ocean currents:
Wind-driven circulation
 Surface winds

Dry

Wet

Dry

General atmospheric circulation defines winds

 How wind moves water:
“Ekman Spiral” Avg. for all depths

50-200 m

Water deflected to right in N. Hemisphere

Momentum Exchange: Wind Stress [~ wind speed2]

Surface Layer response = Ekman Spiral;
transport perpendicular to the wind [right NH; left SH]
Some examples of Ekman transport

Coastal upwelling (e.g. California)

 What is unusual about
the west coasts of continents?
Ekman Transport

Wind
Cold, upwelled
water is blue

Where to find the whales?

Equatorial upwelling (e.g. E. Eq. oceans)

Ekman Divergence …and SST response

Where does the Gulf Stream get its energy?
Ekman Convergence
Makes a sealevel hill
The wind [through Ekman transport] redistributes the buoyant
surface water inducing a relief to the sea surface [about 2 meters]

low low
Westerlies low
hill ET hill ET
Trades hill
valley valley
hill

low
 hill

hill

Geostrophic current: horizontal pressure gradients balanced by coriolis force.

∆P/∆x = 2ωsinθ v = fv
TOPEX satellite

Sea-surface
Height (cm)
Wind Driven Ocean circulation: fast, mostly upper km
Incoming (and outgoing) radiation
 Summary (Wind-driven)
Upper ocean circulation (<1 km) results from
wind stress on sea surface.
Ekman transport of surface water by wind
stress “pushes” water to the right of wind
direction (in NH).
This “piling up” of water creates sea-surface
hills/valleys (pressure gradients).
Geostrophic flow occurs at right angles to
pressure gradient.
B. Deep ocean circulation:
Buoyancy (∆salt & ∆temperature)
 Thermohaline Circulation
Ocean heat & salt gradients = density gradients.

More dense water sinks below less dense

water.

By continuity, the flow has to be closed =

“overturning circulation cells”.

“The global ocean conveyor”

Sea-surface temperatures
Evaporation and Precipitation

Dry

Wet

Dry

General atmospheric circulation defines E-P zones

Why subtropical waters are salty:
Evaporation minus Precipitation
Sea-surface salinity
 Density of Seawater
(Function of salinity and temperature)

Low
Isopycnals
density
(Equal density lines)

High
density

Thermohaline (∆temperature and ∆salinity)

Surface density = f(T, S)
Ocean Density Stratification
Waters warmer than 10°C
dominate the sea surface
but do not extend much
below 500 m in the ocean.

The warm waters provide just a

veneer of warmth over a
cold ocean. The sharp
drop off in temperature
with depth is called the
thermocline.

Deeper cold waters derive their

properties at the sea
surface during winter at
high latitude.
Thermohaline Circulation
Warm, salty surface waters cool.
They become more dense and sink.
Flow southward at ~2-4 km depth.
Cross-section of the Atlantic Basin

Deep water is formed at southern and northern ends

 Surface

AAIW MED
NADW

AABW

6 km

South North
 Why is there no deep water
in the N. Pacific?

Salinity
 Surface

From
NADW

6 km

South North
Antarctic Deep water formation
The Global Ocean Conveyor
The Global Ocean Conveyor
 Summary (deep circulation)
Deep ocean circulation (>1 km) results from
changes in ocean density (buoyancy).
Warm salty waters cool release heat to
atmosphere as they move north.
Cooling of salty waters makes denser water,
eventually sinks to bottom and flows south.
The Global Ocean Conveyor: “Wind-driven
surface circulation” and “Thermohaline deep
circulation”
 QUIZ
Why are the subtropical oceans salty?

Why are the tropical oceans fresh?

Why does this matter?