Ocean Currents: Physical Drivers in a Changing World opens with a general introduction to the character, measurement, and simulation of ocean currents, leading to a physical and dynamical framework for understanding the wide variety of flows encountered in the oceans. The book comprises chapters covering distinct aspects of contrasting ocean currents: broad and slow, deep and shallow, narrow and swift, large scale and small scale, low latitudes and high latitudes, and moving in horizontal and vertical planes. Through this approach the authors cover a wide range of applications, from local to global, with considerable geographical context. - Provides analyses of ocean observations and numerical model simulations, highlighting the pathways and drift associated with ocean currents, around the World Ocean, linked to online exercises for instructors and students that extend this perspective - Presents applications to natural phenomena, showing how ocean currents shape marine ecosystems, helping researchers understand the distribution and adaptation of life in the oceans - Addresses societal challenges, specifically how ocean currents disperse pollutants (e.g. plastic) from coastal sources and how the global ocean circulation is central to our changing climate, helping students and researchers develop an interdisciplinary approach to global environmental change

Measuring Ocean Currents: Tools, Technologies, and Data covers all major aspects of ocean current measurements in view of the implications of ocean currents on changing climate, increasing pollution levels, and offshore engineering activities. Although more than 70% of the Earth is covered by ocean, there is limited information on the countless fine- to large-scale water motions taking place within them. This book fills that information gap as the first work that summarizes the state-of-the-art methods and instruments used for surface, subsurface, and abyssal ocean current measurements. Readers of this book will find a wealth of information on Lagrangian measurements, horizontal mapping, imaging, Eulerian measurements, and vertical profiling techniques. In addition, the book describes modern technologies for remote measurement of ocean currents and their signatures, including HF Doppler radar systems, satellite-borne sensors, ocean acoustic tomography, and more. Crucial aspects of ocean currents are described in detail as well, including dispersion of effluents discharged into the sea and transport of beneficial materials—as well as environmentally hazardous materials—from one region to another. The book highlights several important practical applications, showing how measurements relate to climate change and pollution levels, how they affect coastal and offshore engineering activities, and how they can aid in tsunami detection. - Coverage of measurement, mapping and profiling techniques - Descriptions of technologies for remote measurement of ocean currents and their signatures - Reviews crucial aspects of ocean currents, including special emphasis on the planet-spanning thermohaline circulation, known as the ocean's "conveyor belt," and its crucial role in climate change

29,000 bathtub toys make history. It was an accident at sea in 1992 that proved the ocean currents are connected. When a cargo ship dropped a bathtub-toy-filled container into the Pacific, the little quackers bobbed along the globe's waterways, coming to rest on beaches near and far. This fictionalized account of the event is accompanied by maps charting the toys' travel pattern, a glossary, and a summary of the highly publicized event.

Published by the American Geophysical Union as part of the Geophysical Monograph Series, Volume 173. The ocean's meridional overturning circulation (MOC) is a key factor in climate change. The Atlantic MOC, in particular, is believed to play an active role in the regional and global climate variability. It is associated with the recent debate on rapid climate change, the Atlantic Multi-Decadal Oscillation (AMO), global warming, and Atlantic hurricanes. This is the first book to deal with all aspects of the ocean's large-scale meridional overturning circulation, and is a coherent presentation, from a mechanistic point of view, of our current understanding of paleo, present-day, and future variability and change. It presents the current state of the science by bringing together the world's leading experts in physical, chemical, and biological oceanography, marine geology, geochemistry, paleoceanography, and climate modeling. A mix of overview and research papers makes this volume suitable not only for experts in the field, but also for students and anyone interested in climate change and the oceans.

The book represents all the knowledge we currently have on ocean circulation. It presents an up-to-date summary of the state of the science relating to the role of the oceans in the physical climate system. The book is structured to guide the reader through the wide range of world ocean circulation experiment (WOCE) science in a consistent way. Cross-references between contributors have been added, and the book has a comprehensive index and unified reference list. The book is simple to read, at the undergraduate level. It was written by the best scientists in the world who have collaborated to carry out years of experiments to better understand ocean circulation. - Presents in situ and remote observations with worldwide coverage - Provides theoretical understanding of processes within the ocean and at its boundaries to other Earth System components - Allows for simulating ocean and climate processes in the past, present and future using a hierarchy of physical-biogeochemical models

Ocean Currents

Ocean Currents is a derivative of the Encyclopedia of Ocean Sciences, 2nd Edition and serves as an important reference on current ocean current knowledge and expertise in one convenient and accessible source. Its selection of articles—all written by experts in their field—focuses on key ocean current concepts. Its topics include ocean currents, the circulation of deep water, the contrasting circulations of the seas, the circulation in fjords, estuaries and the effects of rivers, and the intermittency and variability of the oceans. Ocean Currents serves as an ideal reference for topical research. References related articles on ocean currents to facilitate further research Richly illustrated with figures and tables that aid in understanding key concepts Includes an introductory overview of ocean currents and then explores each topic in detail, making it useful to experts and graduate-level researchers Topical arrangement makes it the perfect desk reference