ERTH 2403

Lecture 7: Ocean Currents

High Latitude (Subpolar) currents / Gyres (Polar Easterlies)

Geostrophic Balance
Geostrophic flow results in the formation of a hill in subtropical gyres
Balance of Coriolis and pressure force (gravity)
North Atlantic Gyre Current
o Gulf Stream
Warm water flows to the north
o Moves right to the Canary Current
o Which sinks, compressing the layer beneath
o Forcing those layers to spread

Boundary Currents
Western Boundary Currents
o The western boundary currents of subtropical gyres are:
Fast
Narrow
Deep
Warm
o Examples
Gulf Stream
Brazil Current
East Australian Current
Kuroshio
Agulhas
The Gulf stream is a warm western boundary current
o The largest of western boundary currents
o Meanders as it moves towards the North Atlantic
o Creates warm and cold core rings = Eddies
o Rings move west
o It flows is at least 55 Sverdrup (sv) (55 million cubic meters per
second)
Eastern Boundary Currents
o Eastern side of ocean basin
o Have opposite properties of Western boundary Currents
Cold
Slow
Shallow
Wide
o Examples
Canary Currents
Benguela Currents
West Australian Currents
California Currents
 Peru or Humboldt Currents
Traverse Currents
o Currents that flow from east to west and west to east
o Link the eastern and western boundary currents
o Trade wind-driven North Equatorial Current and South Equatorial
Current in the Atlantic and the Pacific
o The Pacifics stronger trade winds develop powerful westward-flowing
equatorial currents
o Eastward-flowing currents are Westerly wind-driven and are wider and
flow more slowly.
Westward Intensification
o Western boundary current: east-ward moving water on the north of NA
gyre is turned faster and strongly toward the equator compared to
westward flowing-water towards the pole
o Western boundary currents are faster, deeper, and narrower than
eastern boundary currents
o Their effect on current flow is = westward intensifications
Equatorial Counter Currents
o Are currents that flow in the surface in the opposite direction from man
current

Wind can cause vertical movement of Ocean water: Upwelling and

Downwelling

1. Upwell and Downwells

a. Vertical Movement of water
i. Upwelling = upward movement of deep water
1. Brings cold, nutrient-rich water to surface
2. High productivities
ii. Downwelling = Downward movement of surface water
1. Moves warm, nutrient depleted, oxygen-rich surface
water to depths
2. No productivities
b. Ekman transport moves surface water away from shore = upwelling
when wind comes from north
c. Ekman transport moves surface water towards shore = downwelling
when wind comes from south
2. Diverging Surface Seawater
a. Surface water moves away
b. Deeper seawater replaces it (cooler, nutrient-rich)
c. Upwelling
3. Converging Surface Seawater
a. Surface water moves in
b. No Nutrients
c. Downwelling
4. Several Permanent Convergence Zone = low nutrient levels
a. Tropical Convergence
b. Subtropical Convergence
c. Arctic Convergence
 d. Antarctica Convergence
5. Several Permanent Divergence Zone = high nutrient levels
a. Tropical divergence zones in pacific, Atlantic and Indian Ocean
b. Antarctic Divergence zone surround Antarctica

Antarctic Circulation
Antarctic circumpolar current (west wind drift)
o Encircles Earth
o Transport more water than any other current
East wind drift
Antarctic divergence
Antarctic Convergence
Langmuir Circulation
Steady winds
Generates small waves
Induce rows of rotation and counter-rotating cells
Divergence upwelling
Convergence downwelling
El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO)
El Nino = atmospheric and oceanic disturbances in Pacific Ocean causing
warm surface current in equatorial eastern Pacific around Christmas Time
Southern Oscillation = Change in atmospheric pressure over Pacific Ocean
accompanying El Nino
ENSO describes a combine ocean-atmospheric disturbance
High pressure in Eastern Pacific weakens
Weaker trade winds and stronger Westerlies
Warm pool migrates eastwards
Thermocline deeper in eastern Pacific = constant downwelling no fishing
Peru Warm, wet and landslides
Indonesia/ Eastern Australia = crop failures
El Nino warm phase ever 2 to 10 years
Phases last between 12 to 18 months

Normal Conditions
Air pressure in Equatorial Pacific is higher
Strong Southeast trade winds
Pacific warm water piles up = warm pool in western side
Thermocline deeper on Western Pacific
Coastal upwelling off the coast of Peru in the eastern Pacific (high pressure,
cold, dry air)
Indonesia/ Eastern Australia (low pressure, warm, wet air

Thermohaline Circulation
Deep water circulation
Surface Waters: Wind Driven
Separated by the pycnocline
 1. Surface Water ~ 200m
2. Central Water within pycnocline
3. Intermediate Water below pycnocline to ~1500m+
4. Deep water below intermediate but not to bottom
5. Bottom water
Water current below pycnocline
90% of all ocean water
Slow velocity: larger and slower than surface currents
Density driven current movement is the result of difference in density
(temperature and salinity)
Properties of Deep Ocean
o Dark
o Cold
o Still
o High Pressure

Deep water masses

o Form at the surface in subpolar regions
o When high density surface water sinks
o Temperature and salinity two factors affecting density
o Stratification according to density
o Atlantic well defined, Pacific and Indian, not as well
o Low temperature and low salinity can have same density as high
temperature and high salinity
Deep water masses
o Antarctic Bottom water
o North Atlantic deep water
o Antarctic intermediate water
Cold surface

Antarctic Bottom Water

34.65% per mL
-0.5oC
Densest of all water
Greatest volume
Forms mainly in the Weddel Sea during the Winter season
Mixes with west-wind drift (surface water)
Keeps sinking to bottom
Creeps northward into all ocean basin
In Atlantic west-side to 40oN (750y)
In Pacific: it may take 1000 years to reach the equator

North Atlantic Deep Water

Surface water cold, increase density and sink
2-4oC
34.9% / per mL
 Warmer and more saline than Antarctic BW
Moves south, mixes with Antarctic waters

Mediterranean Water
High evaporation, few rivers
38% / mL
Warm
Density = upper part of North Atlantic DWN

Waves
Why does the Ocean have Waves?
What are the features of a wave
How does ocean wave move?
What hppanes when a wave hits a beach

Wave Formation
Waves are formed by release of energy: disturbance = forces displace water
Disturbance
o Wind waves
o Seismic disruption (Earthquake, Volcanoes): Tsunami
o Moon and Sun: Tides
Restoring force restores to undisturbed level
o Cohesion
o Gravity

Wave Characteristic
Crest: The highest part
Trough: Lowest part of the wave
Wavelength(L): the distance between two adjacent crests
Wave Height(H): The vertical distance between the lowest part and the
highest part
Amplitude: Half the wave height(H/2)
Period(T) Seconds between waves, used in waves classification (As capillary
waves, chop, swell, seiches, tsunamis)
Frequency(F): Number of waves/over a given period 1/T
Speed = C = L/T

Waves types According to Period and Wavelength

1. Capillary Waves
a. Small < 1.73cm L
b. Wind stretches water surface wrinkles
c. Cohesion (hydrogen bonds) = restoring force
2. Gravity Waves
a. L > 1.73 cm with increase winds
b. Restoring force = gravity
Wave Categories
Two general waves
Progressive Waves
o Surface Wave
o Internal
o Tsunamis
Standing Waves
o Seiches

Progressive Waves
Wave that moves forward across a surface
As waves pass, wave energy move forward, but not the water
Water molecules move in an orbital motion as the wave passes
Diameter of orbit increases with increasing wave size and decreases with
depth

Wave Motion
Circular Orbital Motion
o As a wave travels, the water passes the energy along by moving in a
circular orbit
o Floating objects also follows circular orbits
o Orbital size decreases with depth to zero at wave base
o Depth of wave base = wavelength, measured from still water level
Wave base is the depth to which a surface wave can move water
If the water is deeper than wave base:
o Orbits are circular
o No interaction between the bottom and the wave
If the water is shallower than wave base
o Orbits are elliptical
o Orbits become increasingly flattened towards the bottom

Wave Types: Defined by Water Depth

There are three types f waves
o Deep water (d>or of L)
o Shallow Water wave (d<or+ 1/20 of L)
o Intermediate water wave (d >1/20 ahd <1/2 of L)

1. Deep water waves

a. Water depth > water base
b. Water depth d > L
c. Orbits die out at L
d. Orbits do touch bottom
2. Shallow-Water Waves
a. Water depth d < L
b. Water depth d > 1/20 L
c. Orbits elliptical
d. Orbits touch bottom
3. Intermediate or Transitional Waves
a. Water depth < wave base but aslo > 1/20 of wavelength
 b. Water depth d <1/2 L
c. Water depth D > 1/ 20 L
d. Orbits elliptical
e. Orbits touch bottom

Deep Water Waves Approaching Shore

1. L shortens
T stays constant
C decreases
H increases
2. H/L reaches critical ration of 1/7
3. Surf

Wave formation and Interaction

Wave trains Dispersion
Wave trains contains sets of waves of equal speeds
Long period & long L waves travel faster
First to arrive on shore are the large swells
Waves originate in a sea area
Swell describes waves that:
o Have travelled out of their area of origination
o Exhibit a uniform and symmetrical shape
Dispersion: Gradual separation of waves type based on their relative
wavelengths and speed
Long waves travel faster than short waves
This cause dispersion outside of the fetch

Wave Interference
Constructive
o Increases wave height
Destructive
o Decrease wave height
Mixed
o Variable patterns

Wave Height Development

Factors
Fetch, wind speed, wind duration
Train interaction
Episodic Waves: Rogue waves

Wave Steepness
Maximum height for any wave is a function of the steepness of the wave
S = H (wave height)/L(wavelength)
Angle of wave crest = 120 degrees
When H exceeds L in a ration of 1/7

Waves Refract, Diffract and Reflect

 Refract
o Feel bottom and slow
o Bends +/- parallel to shore
Diffract
o Move around objects
o Breakwaters
Reflect
o At 90o to object
o From a standing wave
Wave Refraction
Waves approaches shore, the part of the wave in shallow water slows
The part of the wave in deep water movies at its original speed
Cause waves crest to refract (bend)
Waves lining up nearly parallel to shore

Wave Diffraction
Orthogonal Lines denote areas of equal waves energy
Wave energy is concentrated at headlands and dispersed in bays

Wave Reflection
Wave energy is reflected
Bounces back from obstacle they encounter
Reflected waves can cause interference with oncoming waves, creating
standing waves

Storm Surge
It is the rise in sea level resulting from low atmospheric pressure and the
accumulation of water toward the shore by storm winds
Water is deeper at the shore area and waves move farther inland
Storm surge get severe when superimposed upon a spring high tide

Standing Waves
Consist of a water surface seesawing back and forth confined to a basin
Steady wind
Node: the line about which the surface oscillate
Antinodes: Points where there are the maximum displacement of the surface.
Antinodes are located at the edge of the basin

Other type of Progressive Waves

Internal Waves
Internal waves form within the water column along the pycnocline
Internal waves display all the properties of surface progressive waves
Any disturbances to the pycnocline can generate internal waves

Tsunamis
Tsunamis: Series of long-period waves with very long wavelengths, up to
100km and high speed, up to 760 km/h, in the deep ocean
 Tsunamis are shallow-water to intermediate-water waves (long wavelengths)
Danger when reaching the coast (wave height can reach 10m)
Origin: Earthquakes, volcanic explosions or submarine landslides
Approach Shore
o L shortens
o T Stays unchanged
o H increases 30m
o