PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHY 01:628:451 - 11:628:451 - 16:712:501
Course Description
Fall 2002
INSTRUCTORS:
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John Wilkin
Marine and Coastal Sciences Building room 211C, ph: 732-932-6555 x251,
wilkin@marine.rutgers.edu
Bob Chant
Blake Hall, ph: 732-932-7120, chant@marine.rutgers.edu
Jim Miller (on sabbatical 2002)
Marine and Coastal Sciences Building room 111D, ph: 732-932-6555 x545,
miller@marine.rutgers.edu
Teaching Assistant:
MOTIVATION:
The earth is a complex system of interacting natural and human components that can be
divided into the atmosphere, biosphere, geosphere, and hydrosphere. To understand the
interrelationships among these different components, we must have some understanding
of each of them. The focus of this course is on the physical processes within the
hydrosphere, with emphasis on the world’s oceans. The scales of these processes range
through spatial scales from centimeters to global, and time scales from seconds to
centuries. Paleoceanographic processes extend the temporal scales to millenia and longer.
An understanding of the concepts of physical oceanography is often necessary to fully
appreciate and understand processes in the other oceanographic disciplines, marine
biology, chemical oceanography, and marine geology.
Physical oceanography is important in many different ways. Much of the world’s human
population lives near the coast where the effects of marine weather, hurricanes, waves,
tides, and coastal currents are manifested. Regional current systems, such as the Gulf
Stream, are important components of the global ocean circulation. El Nino is an example
of a larger-scale phenomenon whose equatorial origin belies its global impacts on the
atmosphere and ocean. Finally, the oceans play an important role in the planetary climate
system and the recent interest in climate change.
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course is designed to introduce students to the important physical processes in the
oceans in such a way that they will understand both the conceptual physical principles
and at the larger scale how these fit into the earth as a system. The initial focus is to
develop the basic equations that describe the principles upon which physical
oceanography is based. These principles are then used to help understand waves, tides,
currents, and the large-scale ocean circulation. Homework problems are assigned to
reinforce the concepts learned in class. Throughout the course, examples will be given to
show how physical oceanography affects and is affected by biological, chemical, and
geological processes in the ocean.
OBJECTIVES:
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To introduce students to the basic principles underlying the physical processes in
the ocean.
To show students that the basic physical principles can be represented with
mathematical equations.
To apply the basic physical principles to develop an understanding of specific
ocean phenomena and processes.
To understand some of the important linkages between physical oceanography
and the other oceanographic disciplines-- marine biology, chemical
oceanography, and marine geology.
To help understand why physical oceanography is important in the earth system
and to learn about the interactions with other components of the system,
particularly the atmosphere.
GRADING:
Three exams (75%)
Homework (25%)
RECOMMENDED TEXTS:
Introductory Dynamical Oceanography, S. Pond and G. Pickard
Ocean Circulation, The Open University, J. Brown et al.
OTHER REFERENCES ON RESERVE:
Principles of Ocean Physics, J. Apel
The Physical Oceanography of Coastal Waters, K. F. Bowden
Waves, Tides and Shallow Water Processes, The Open University, J. Brown et al.
Data Analysis Methods in Physical Oceanography, W. Emery and R.E. Thomson
Introduction to Physical Oceanography, Second Edition, John Knauss, 1997
Introduction to Physical Oceanography, G. Mellor
Descriptive Physical Oceanography, G. Pickard and W. Emery
Regional Oceanography: An Introduction, M. Tomczak and J. Godfrey