Overview

Included in Degrees & Certificates

• 274

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this course, students will be able to:

• Explain the concept of buoyancy, and what “density” and “density stratification” mean,
• Understand the concept of isostacy and how it accounts for the existence of ocean basins,
• Differentiate between types of seismic waves, compare and contrast different types of plate interactions, list main features of the ocean floor, explain why vertical sections of the World ocean are always plotted with exaggerated vertical scale,
• List main classification systems of oceanic sediments, list the properties of seawater that make it unique, define heat capacity, surface tension, latent heat, and density,
• Understand the concepts of heat and temperature, define salinity, explain the principle of constant proportion, describe how pressure depends on depth, explain how density depends on temperature, salinity and pressure, explain how density depends on temperature, salinity and pressure, define the main factors, which set the surface distribution of temperature and salinity in the ocean, define surface mixed layer, pycnocline, thermocline, halocline,
• Explain what we mean by “density stratification” of the ocean, define main factors, which determine the depth of the ocean mixed layer, describe spatial variability of temperature and salinity, compare and contrast the vertical structure of the ocean in the polar, mid-latitude and tropical zones, 
• Report the typical number of layers used to describe the ocean in general in mid-latitudes, describe the difference between seasonal and permanent thermocline, analyzed mixed layer depth depending on method of driving, describe typical vertical temperature and salinity profiles, define water mass and water type,
• Describe how the speed of sound depends on ocean state variables, use Snell’s law of refraction, describe typical propagation paths in deep and shallow water, define basic wave terms, define group and phase velocity of a wave, classify various types of ocean waves based on forces and dispersion relations, describe a simple vertical structure of the atmosphere and properties of air, describe large-scale atmospheric circulation,
• Define Hadley cell, Ferrell cell, polar cell, and polar front, define and interpret pressure gradient forces in the atmosphere, define geostrophic balance, describe equatorial properties and circulation of the ocean, describe the formation of mixed layer transport and circulation, coastal upwelling, and western intensification, and describe concept of thermohaline circulation and water mass formation.