Adam C.

Simon

Ph.D., University of Maryland, 2003

Research Associate
Department of Geology
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742
p: 301 405 0235
f: 301 314 9661
e-mail: asimon@geol.umd.edu
 The World Ocean

Today we begin discussion of the oceans: physical and

sedimentary features, and dynamics of ocean water movement.
Global Water Budget
We have a certain
relatively fixed amount of
water on and near the
Earth’s surface.

The oceans dominate that

budget.
 bulge on this side from
Tides gravitational attraction to Moon

bulge on this side from

centrifugal force

The tides are caused by gravitational force acting on the oceans.

The Moon has the greatest impact on ocean tides.
Since the Earth and Moon are tidally locked, each day there will
be two relative ‘high’ tides and two relative ‘low’ tides.
 Tides:
Lunar and
Solar Effects

Although far away, the Sun influences tides, too (~0.5 lunar).
The highest high tides will occur when the Earth, Moon and Sun
are in alignment (spring tides). The lowest low tides occur when
the Moon’s position is 90o off the Sun (neap tides).
 Tides and Currents
As tides drop, there is a gentle current directed away from
shore (gentle compared to longshore currents).
This is a tidal current.

Storm-related currents generally move sand back and forth

between beaches and the near offshore region.
Wind Energy Converted to Wave Energy
wavelength

below this level, the wave base, waves have little energy
(hence, little capacity for erosion )
 Note: high energy
Waves Approaching Coastlines environment

wave length decreases, wave height increases

When wave heights become too great relative to wavelength,

waves ‘break’ at the surface, forming the surf zone.
If the bottom is deep all the way in to shore,
the surf zone will be very narrow, waves will break hard onshore.
Development of Longshore Current
Waves
approaching
shore at an
angle are
refracted,
producing near-
shore waves
that flow parallel
to the coastline.
The orientation of
incoming waves will be
seasonally variable,
longshore current will
move sand around,
rather than persistently
strip one area.
Refracted Waves = Longshore Current
 Longshore Currents Move Sediment

This sediment
transport process
is called longshore drift.
Coastal Sediment Budget
 Coastal Sediment Budget
Storm-related onshore flow is among the biggest sediment
contributors to beaches (as long as unnatural erosion has not made
the beach profile too steep).
Due to damming and dredging, abundant inland sediment never
makes it to the beach, and when it does it is expelled to
deep water.
 Longshore Current and Dynamic
Shoreline Structures
Due to the variety of sediment sources and transport
mechanisms, the coastal environment is extremely dynamic
(rapidly changing).
 Erosion, Deposition, and Cape Cod

Most of Cape Cod is essentially a

barrier island. Sand is moved
offshore from the continent and
redistributed by longshore and
storm currents. it’s a spit
 Jetties The job of the jetty is to keep a
waterway free of sediment by ‘jetting’ sediment to deeper water.

As is always the case (with streams, ocean currents or wind)

sediment is eroded and transported in fast-moving water, and
deposited when velocity drops.
 Jetties and Sediment
Movement
Jetties contribute to
unnatural sediment
dynamics in coastal regions:

coarse grained sediment

that would have been on
the beach is deposited
offshore (and must be
dredged).

a jetty in Arcadia, FL
 Groins

Groins are intended to arrest sediment movement in one area,

but are generally destructive to beaches downstream.
To try to compensate, a series of groins is built.
 Groins

Sediment buildup alongshore

among groins in Norfolk, VA.
 Beach
Erosion
Although
the beach
environment is
very dynamic, 1975
large scale loss of a beach near Clearwater, Florida

loss of most
beaches is
driven by
unnatural
forces
(anthropogenic).

1995
 before
Beach Erosion storm

Be careful where you

choose to build your
million-dollar home.

after
storm
 Can Beach Restoration Work?

The traditional
(brute-force)
method of beach
restoration is to
either truck in new
sand or dredge
sand from the
near-offshore.

The first method requires constant work (and $$$),

as new sand erodes away. The second creates more erosion
problems by artificially steepening the beach profile.
Wave Erosion of Headlands
 Wave
Erosion and
Sea Cliffs
 1890
Coastal
Erosion
erosion of a
sandstone sea
stack in coastal
Oregon

1910

1920
 100 Years
Later...

1970

Moral of the story:

beaches are high
energy sedimentary
environments for
both deposition and
erosion.
1990
Formation of a
Wave-Cut
Platform
(or Bench)

the White Cliffs of Dover in England

Uplifted Marine Terrace

When relative sea level goes down,

features such as platforms and marine terraces are exposed.
This constitutes an emergent coastline.
Sea Level Rise

Sea level rise in areas

that had stable
continental shelves,
coastal plains, and river
deltas leads to the
formation of drowned
valleys, like the
Chesapeake Bay.
 Submergent Potomac
estuary
Coastlines
These drowned
valleys become the
familiar estuaries
(zones where ocean Chesapeake
Bay
water mixes with
fresh water).

These are among the

characteristics of a
submergent
coastline.
 Sea Level Change
If global temperature rises, sea level rises by two pathways:
melting of glacial ice and thermal expansion of sea water.
Plate tectonics can also play a role, with subsiding sea floors.

What are some

possible
anthropogenic
(human-
society-
induced)
contributions to
global sea level
change? exposed marine terrace
 Sea Level
Change

What explains the

differences in sea
level changes at
these various
locations?

consider:
- tectonics
- effect of temperature
Atlantic Ocean Floor Features

2 km vertical = 100 km horizontal

vertical exaggeration = 50 x
Ocean Depth: Ridge versus Abyssal Plain
 Features of the Drop-Off
continental slope
(at 4o, this is the steep part) continental
shelf

submarine canyons

continental rise
 Turbidity Currents
These are mass movements of coarse-grained sediment
from the edge of the continental shelf all the way
to the abyssal plain.

Is there another way of getting coarse-

grained sediment into the deep oceans?
 Not to be confused with trenches,
Submarine submarine canyons are fissures in the
Canyons continental slope (perpendicular to coastline),
carved largely by turbidity currents.
 The Trenches
The deepest parts of the oceans are the trenches, that mark
convergent plate tectonic margins.
The Mariana trench (SW Pacific) is 10.9 km deep,
almost twice as deep as most of the abyssal plain.

The pressure
at this depth
is over
8 tons per
square inch.
 The Scenic Abyssal Plain

Most of the ocean basins are vast,

relatively featureless expanses: the abyssal plain.

The lighting down there is not good:

about one millionth the intensity at the surface.

Abyssal plain temperature hovers around +2oC.

 Sediments of the Abyssal Plain
Sedimentation is very slow on the abyssal plain.
Most coastal-derived material falls out of suspension well
before making it this far.
The principal clastic sediments therefore come from
wind-blown dust falling on the distant ocean surfaces.

Another sediment on the deep

ocean floor are
manganese nodules.
Manganese is very insoluble in
water and precipitates out in crusts
and nodules that, in places,
blanket the abyssal plain.
 Ooze on the
Abyssal Plain
Carbonate and silica ooze
dominate deep sea
sediments. These oozes
pile up, eventually
becoming deep sea
carbonate secretors: foraminifera
limestone or chert.

The material comes from

(a) the constant rain of
shells of organisms
dwelling in the ocean’s
photic zone,
silica secretors: diatoms and radiolaria (b) sea floor dwellers.
Atolls
Hydrothermal Vents

The largest hydrothermal chimney yet

found is almost 50 meters tall.
 ‘Black
Smoker’

The ‘smoke’ pouring out is superheated fluid (up to 400 oC).

The color is from sulfide mineral crystals that form instantaneously
when hot hydrothermal water and cold sea water (2 oC) mix.
Hydrothermal Vent
Systematics

Massive amounts of heat and particles (metals)

are released into the ocean when hydrothermal plumes erupt.
Where does the heat (energy) come from that powers deep sea hydrothermal vents?
 Vent Biology
Despite the harsh conditions, a
host of specially adapted
organisms thrive in the
hydrothermal vent environment
(300 new species
discovered so far).

Giant tube worms were

discovered by submersible off
the Galapagos in 1977, and
have since been found near all
active sea floor vents.
 Thermohaline Circulation

The oceans are a giant system through which water of changing

thermal energy and chemical composition is constantly cycled.
The oceans and atmosphere are critically linked.
 Residence Time

Every molecule of water takes an average of ~3500 years to go

through this complete cycle of circulation.
 Driving Thermohaline Circulation
Thermohaline circulation is not driven by winds,
it is driven by density.
One important place where ocean water is generated in
the arctic north Atlantic.
A warm, shallow current wells up here, which serves to keep
northern Europe relatively warm year round.

This warm water mass loses its

thermal energy to the atmosphere.
As it cools, it becomes denser than
surrounding waters and sinks,
sending a cold current
through the length of the Atlantic
(North Atlantic Deep Water).
temperature density
4 oC 1.0000 g/cm 3
10 0.9997
15 0.9991
20 0.9982
The Gulf
Stream
 A Graphic
Example of
Density-Driven
Currents

dense, salty water in

fresher, less dense water out
(bottom current)
(surface current)
Where there are strong salinity contrasts,
density can drive ocean currents.
The modern Black Sea is much less salty than the water of the
Mediterranean Sea. As such, a low density current of fresh water
escapes through the Bosporus while simultaneously a dense,
salty current flows in, mixing in the Black Sea.
 Plate Tectonics and
Thermohaline Circulation
Plate tectonic changes over long (geological) time scales have
had significant effects on thermohaline circulation
(and thus on global climate).
The closure of the isthmus of Panama (~3 Myr ago) cut off direct
Pacific-Atlantic circulation and formed the Gulf Stream.

Looking at today’s
“conveyor belt,” do you see
places where future plate
tectonic changes will affect
ocean circulation?
 Credits

Some of the images in this presentation come from:

Marshak, Earth: Portrait of a Planet (1st ed)
Plummer, McGeary and Carlson, Physical Geology (8th ed)
Press and Siever, Understanding Earth (3rd ed)
Holmberg Technologies
NOAA
Mining in Manitoba
The Smithsonian
Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Univ. Tennessee, Knoxville