GEO1213: Earth System Science:

Our Changing Planet

The Atmosphere and Oceans

Topic 3: The Ocean
Part I

Paul Halloran
 Atlantic

Pacific Indian

Southern Ocean
1st a couple of obvious but important differences
between the atmosphere and ocean
Ocean’s mass: Atmosphere’s mass:
1.4x1021kg 5.0x1018kg
10 full baths of
seawater (1
tonne – 1000kg)

35kg salt

Seawater 35o/ooo
Or 0.035 % salt
 Padlet exercise

Why does the ocean matter?

GEO1213: Earth System Science:
Our Changing Planet

The Atmosphere and Oceans

Topic 3: The Ocean
Part II

Paul Halloran
The physical properties of
seawater
For one unit of heat we put in, which is going to heat
up more?

rock
seawater
What is specific heat capacity?
 4.2 kJ kg-1 K-1 0.79 kJ kg-1 K-1

rock
seawater
 4.2 kJ kg-1 K-1 1.0 kJ kg-1 K-1

air
seawater
Which will keep you warmest on a cold night, a hot
water bottle full of water, rock or air at 100oC?

Answer using the link below the video

Heat energy capacity = mass x heat capacity

Heat taken up for a 1 degree Celsius warming of the

planet:

Ocean
1.4x1021 x 4.2 = 5.9x1021 kJ 5.0x1018kg
1.4x1021kg

Atmosphere:
5.0x1018 x 1 = 5.0x1018 kJ

5900000000000000000 x

5000000000000000 x
Heat screen cast
 Wunsch, 2005
So despite the much slower circulation of the ocean relative to the
atmosphere, the ocean’s high heat capacity means that it still transports
a large amount of heat from the equator towards the poles.
Ocean warming dominates the increase in energy stored in the climate
system, accounting for more than 90% of the energy accumulated
between 1971 and 2010 – IPCC, 2013
What does all of this heat do to the ocean?
warm, fresh

cool, fresh

warm, saline

cool, saline
-
3
 (note plot actually for freshwater
– peak closer to 0oC for seawater)
3
-
3
-
At cool temperatures, density
does not change much with
temperature, so salinity
changes dominate
So, remembering that 90% of the energy associated with global warming
is being stored in the ocean, this must be causing some significant
density changes which impact the circulation of the ocean....
Summary
GEO1213: Earth System Science:
Our Changing Planet

The Atmosphere and Oceans

Topic 3: The Ocean
Part III

Paul Halloran
How does temperature and salinity vary in
the ocean?
 Sea Surface Temperature

All data from the World Ocean Atlas,

Locarnini et al., 210 and Antonov et al., 2012

Sea Surface Salinity

practical salinity units

Temperature
Screencasts – temperature salinity temperature
Upwelling and the cool water off the west
coasts of continents
Ekman spiral screencast
And because of the
patterns of wind (which
arises from the land-sea
temperature contrasts),
this is focused on the west
sides of continents
One consequence is upwelling:

And at the equator

Padlet exercise. Why does the distribution of
salinity in the ocean look like it does?
 Padlet exercise. Why does the distribution of
salinity in the ocean look like it does?
Precipitation and evaporation
Things to think about:
Winds

Maybe density

Rivers
Geostrophy and Coriolis
GEO1213: Earth System Science:
Our Changing Planet

The Atmosphere and Oceans

Topic 3: The Ocean
Part IV

Paul Halloran
Salinity
 Atlantic Water Masses

Antarctic Intermediate Water

(AAIW)

North Atlantic Deep Water

(NADW)

Antarctic Bottom Water

(AABW)
 North Atlantic Deep Water
formation
North America

Antarctic Bottom Water

Formation

Antarctica
Pacific
You guessed it, as always on a rotating planet,
Coriolis comes along and makes things
interesting!
Density driven circulation
So unlike atmospheric circulation, which we saw was
broken in to three cells due to the coriolis effect,
because the oceans are (generally) bounded by the
continents, the North-South flow can be maintained.
Deep current actually
follows the western
boundary

http://www.whoi.edu
So we know how water goes down (increased
density due to lowering temperature and
higher salinity), but what goes down must
come up…
To change the density we want to add heat, or dilute salt – but the heat comes in the top
of the ocean (from the sun), and ice-floats, so there is none to melt at the bottom of the
ocean… why does the ocean therefore not become stagnant?
It is partly due to the fact that heat gets mixed downwards
 Wind can move water away from the continent ‘sucking’ water upwards

But also due to wind driving ‘upwelling’ – how important each is is still a matter of active
research.
Assorted extra diagrams