The Oceanic Thermohaline Circulation - (Atmospheric and Oceanographic Sciences Library) by Hendrik M Van Aken (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

This book presents a global hydrographic description of the thermohaline circulation, an introduction to the theoretical aspects of this phenomenon, and observational evidence for the theory. The hydrographic description and the observational evidence are based on data sources, available via internet, mainly from the World Oceanographic Experiment (WOCE). With the hydrographic description and observational evidence also comes an introduction to hydrographic analysis and interpretation.

From the Back Cover

The Oceanic Thermohaline Circulation: An Introduction

Hendrik M. van Aken

Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Department of Physical Oceanography, Texel, The Netherlands

In this book different aspects of the oceanic thermohaline circulation, the dominant meridionally overturning mode of the global ocean circulation, are presented. That part of the ocean circulation is generally assumed to be driven by the meridional density gradients in the ocean, related to differences in temperature and salinity. This circulation is often considered to be a key process for the global meridional heat transport and a dominant factor in rapid climate change. The topics, presented in this book, are the aspects of thermodynamics of seawater and geophysical fluid dynamics that are important for the understanding of this current system, basic observational hydrographic methods to study the thermohaline circulation, and a description of the thermohaline circulation, based on observational evidence. This includes the deep circulation in the abyssal basins, global deep upwelling, the shallow return flow to high latitudes, and the formation and descent of high-density deep water masses in these cold regions. Theoretical models for the lateral structure of the abyssal circulation, the deep upwelling, turbulent mixing and energy requirements of the thermohaline circulation are discussed. Wherever possible, observational evidence for such models is also presented. With the use of very simple one-dimensional and box models ideas with regard to relation between the boundary conditions at the ocean-atmosphere interface and the strength and stability of the overturning rate of the thermohaline circulation are presented, as well as the basics for the formulation of more complex models of the thermohaline circulation in two and three dimensions. The relation between climate variability and the thermohaline circulation is illustrated with the results of computer simulations as well as with paleoceanographic evidence.

To make this book accessible for students with a variety of backgrounds, the mathematics used in this book is kept quite simple. Only some basic knowledge of differential and integral reckoning is required. The observational data on the thermohaline circulation, presented in this book, are mainly derived from recent oceanographic experiments, in particular observations collected during the World Ocean Circulation Experiments from the 1990s. The World Wide Web addresses, where these data can be found, are also given, to encourage the readers to download data for practice and further analysis.

This book is intended to be used by advanced undergraduates and graduate students in physical oceanography, climatology, geography and environmental sciences, paleoceanography, marine biology and marine chemistry. It should fill the gap between most textbooks on general oceanography and the specialized papers in scientific journals.

Review Quotes

From the reviews:

"Van Aken (Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research) introduces THC to students in physical oceanography and related fields who can do simple math. ... Appropriate for undergraduate oceanography or research library collections. ... Summing Up: Recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates; faculty and researchers." (L. S. Zipp, CHOICE, Vol. 44 (11), July, 2007)

"This book presents various aspects of the world ocean thermohaline circulation (THC) ... . My conclusion is that the book represents a rather complete and well done evaluation of the THC; it can be used by students of different backgrounds ... . More especially, it can be useful for M.Sc. and Ph.D. students in oceanography, and to a certain extent also for students in meteorology as additional textbook. ... I recommend the book warmly to oceanography graduate students." (Miroslav Gacic, Journal of Sedimentary Research, November, 2007)

"In this book, Hendrik van Aken provides descriptions of the thermohaline circulations (based on observations), of the essential aspects of its coupling to the atmosphere, and of its dynamics. ... The Oceanic Thermohaline Circulation: An Introduction could be used in a university course in oceanography, particularly as a primer for inspiring numerical modelers, who often need to know more about the ocean." (Arnold L. Gordon, Bulletin of the American Metrological Society, October, 2008)

About the Author

Dr. Hendrik van Aken has been an observational oceanographer for over 25 years. He mainly deals with regional oceanography. He headed the Dutch contribution ot the WOCE Hydrographic Program (WHP), and is presently active in CLIVAR projects. Dr. Van Aken has done extensive research in the fields of climate hydrographic variability and aspects of the global thermohaline circulation.