Introduction to Oceanography

Phone: 0248571016
Email: [Link]@[Link]
Overview

The nature of the sea-floor; its deposits and resources; the hydrologic cycle; properties
and circulation of sea-water oceanic environments; marine food chains; pollution;
hydrothermal processes; marine geology.
Organisation

Exercises

• Ex. 1: 2nd week in February

• Ex. 2: 1st week in March

• Ex. 3: 4th week in March

Reading List

• Lynne D. Talley (2011): Descriptive Physical Oceanography, Sixth Edition: An

Introduction 6th Edition ISBN-13: 978-0750645522.

• John A. Knauss (2005): Introduction to Physical Oceanography, Second Edition. ISBN-13:

978-1577664291.

• Richard E. Thompson and William J. Emery (2014): Data Analysis Methods in Physical
Oceanography, Third Edition 3rd Edition. ISBN-13: 978-0123877826.
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What is oceanography?
• Oceanography is the study of the physical, biological, chemical, and geological characteristics
of the Ocean.

• Physical oceanography: It is the study of the ocean's circulation, currents, waves, and tides.

• Biological oceanography: Involves the study of marine organisms and their relationship with
their environment.

• Chemical oceanography: Considers the analysis of the chemical composition of sea water and
the cycling of nutrients through the ocean system.
5
Importance of the Ocean
• The ocean provides:

§ diversity of food;
§ reservoir of our water supply and most heat and carbon of the climate system;

§ a link between the atmosphere in terms of the climatological parameters of temperature,

cloud and rain;

§ about half of the world’s population lives within 50 km off the sea; and
§ it poses threats (storms and hurricanes) to coastal populations.

6
Formation of the Ocean
• 3.8 billion years water on earth was in the gaseous forms until the planet’s surface cooled
below 100 oC.

§ How did the gases form?

• Water then condensed into rain and came onto land.

• The water gathered on low land areas which gradually became the primitive ocean.
The Ocean the broader picture

Lines of Latitude
• Equator = 0 degree

• Poles = latitude 90 degree north and

latitude 90 degrees south (or -90 degree)
• Latitude locations are given as degrees North or degrees South. Vertical mapping lines on Earth are lines of
longitude, known as "meridians".

• The number of latitude degrees become larger as we move further away from the equator all the way up to
90 degrees latitude at the poles.
The Ocean the broader picture

The common units of distance on earth are:

• Latitude (ψ) is the the angular distance of a place north or south of the equator.

• Longitude (λ) the angular distance of a place east or west of the Greenwich meridian.

• These are measured in degrees, “minutes of arc” and “seconds of arc’’. E.g. 50o 33’ 5’’.

• Latitude is measure along great circles with radius R (mean radius of earth).

• Longitude is measured along great circles with radius Rcosα where α is latitude.

• Thus, 1o latitude = 111 km, and 1o longitude, = 111 cosα km. Int. nautical mile: nm = 1.852 km.
Degree conversions
Degree conversions
The world Oceans and Seas
We have three oceans by international definition:

Pacific ocean Atlantic ocean Indian ocean

Surface Area of the ocean: Pacific Ocean = 181.34 x 106 km2;
Atlantic Ocean = 106.57 x106 km2
Indian Ocean = 74.12 x 106 km2 (from Menard and Smith 1966).
The world Oceans and Seas
The world Oceans and Seas

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Dimensions of the Oceans
• 70.8% of the surface of Earth is covered by the ocean and adjacent seas.

• Typical depth are only 3 – 4 km.

• Oceanic dimensions range from around 1,500 km for minimum width of the Atlantic to
more than 13,000 km for the north-south extent of the Atlantic and the width of the
pacific.
NB: Location Of Ghana
Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean between Cote d'Ivoire and Togo.
Latitude: 5 degrees, 36 minutes north
Longitude: 0 degrees, 10 minutes east
Coastline: 539 km
Features of the sea floor: Earth’s rocky surface is divided into
two types
Continental
Oceanic
• With a thick light crust
• With a thin dense crust beneath the ocean.

• About 10 – 70 km thick.
• About 7 – 10 km thick.

• Composed mainly of granitic rocks.

• Composed mainly of basalt.

• Density = 2.7 g cm-3

• Density = 3.0 g cm-3
• Contain rocks about 180 million years old.
• Contain rock about 3-4 billion years old.
• Mean depth of -3432 m relative to the sea
• Mean elevation of 1114 m relative to sea
level.
level.
Dynamics of the Ocean bottom
Seafloor spreading
• It is a geologic process in which tectonic plates
or large slabs of the Earth's lithosphere split
apart from each other.

§ Due to mantle convection in the sea.

§ Heat from the mantle’s convection currents

makes the crust more plastic and less dense.

§ The less-dense material rises, often forming

a mountain or elevated area of the seafloor.
Earth’s crust

Courtesy: [Link]
 Features of the sea floor

Seamounts are more dense than sea water. They increase local gravity causing a plumb line at the sea surface
(arrows) to be deflected toward the seamount. Because the surface of an ocean at rest must be perpendicular to
gravity, the sea surface and the local geoid must have a slight bulge as shown. Such bulges are easily measured
by satellite altimeters.
Features of the sea floor
Features of the sea floor: Altimeters
Altimeters profile the shape of the sea surface, and its shape is very similar to the
shape of the sea-floor (Tapley and Kim, 2001)

The sea-floor topography of the ocean with 3 km resolution produced from satellite
altimeter observations of the shape of the sea surface. From Smith and Sandwell.
Topographic features

•Continental shelf (1° slope)

•Continental slope (2.9° slope)

• Continental Rise

• Abyssal Plain

• Submarine Canyons

• Oceanic Ridge Systems

Topographic features
Topographic features
Plate tectonics and Formation of ocean basins
• According to the theory of plate tectonics, the earth’s crust is broken up into at least a dozen
rigid plates that move independent of one another.

• The slabs rest upon layers of heated pliable rocks called the asthenosphere which flows
slowly like hot tar. (Even though their interactions are not well understood).

• The molten materials in the asthenosphere forces the upper plates to shift, sink or rise.

• This molten material or the magma pushes upwards, while cooler hardened matter sink
deeper into the mantle.

• The sinking rocks heats up after reaching the extremely hot temperatures of the lower
asthenosphere and begin to rise again. This continually roughly circulation motion is called
convection.
Plate tectonics and Formation of ocean basins

The rocks nearest the ridge were relatively young, but the rocks aged as the distance from the ridge
increased. In addition, marine sediment was thicker and older further from the ridge, whereas the ridge
itself had virtually no deposits of sediment. These observations, added to those of the heat flow at the
ridge, confirmed the creation of new crust at mid-ocean ridges and the mechanism of seafloor spreading.
Plate tectonics
The earth’s surface is divided into plates: borders are
ridge systems, faults.
The Oceanic crust: crust is formed at ridges move laterally,
and destroyed by subduction, which forms trenches.

Seafloor spreading
Sound in the Ocean bottom
• Only signal used for remote sensing of the ocean
Sound:
below a depth of a few tens of metres.
• the only convenient means for
transmitting information over great
distances in the ocean. • Whales and other ocean animals use it to:

• for the determination of properties § navigate;

of the ocean floor such as:

§ communicate over great distances; and to

§ ocean depth; find food
§ ocean temperature; and
§ ocean currents
Speed of sound in the Ocean

Varies with:

• temperature;
• salinity; and
• pressure.

In 1993, Dushaw proposed an equation that had an accuracy of 0.1 ms-1.

C = 1448.96 + 4.591 T – 0.05304 T2 + 0.0002374 T3 + 0.0160 Z + (1.340 – 0.01025 T)(S – 35)

+ 1.675 x 10-7 Z2 – 7.139 x 10-13 T Z3 (1)

where C = speed in ms-1

T, is temperature in Celcius
S, is salinity in practical salinity units
Z, is depth in metres
C, could be between 1450 and 1550 ms-1 for typical ocean conditions
Speed of sound in the Ocean

• The sensitivity of the speed varies

with temperature, salinity and depth.

• E.g. 40 ms-1 per 10 oC rise in

temperature.

• 16 ms-1 per 1000 m increase in depth.

• 1.5 ms-1 per 1 psu increase in salinity.

Measuring the depth of the Ocean

• Ocean’s depth can be measured in two ways:

§ Using acoustic echo-sounders on ships.

§ Data from satellite altimeters.

Figure on the right depicts the use of an echo sounder on-
board a ship.
Measuring the depth of the Ocean with Echo-sounder

Echo sounders measure depth of the ocean by transmitting pulses of sound and observing the time required to
receive the echo from the bottom.
Satellite altimeters
Speed of sound as a function of depth
Primary causes of variability of sound speed is temperature and depth (pressure).
Variations of salinity are too small to have much influence.
Speed of sound as a function of depth

• Plot of sound speed as a function of • Processes producing the sound channel in the
depth: ocean. See fig. on previous slide.
• Speed usually has a minimum at a depth
around 1000 m, see figure on previous • Left: Temperature T and salinity S measured as a
slide. function of depth.

• The depth of minimum speed is called • Right: Sound speed as a function of depth
the sound channel. showing the velocity minimum near 1 km depth
which defines the sound channel in the ocean.
• It occurs in most of the ocean, and it
usually reaches the surface at very high
latitudes.
The Ocean as a component of the Earth’s system

How was the Ocean

formed?
Water relationship in the Ocean
The Hydrological cycle
The earth’s water Budget

• 70 % of earth’s surface is water.

• But not all of then can be seen.

(underground).
• Distribution of water varies from
place to place.

• Water is a source of life on earth. The volume of water in ocean, land and the
• Water exists on earth in a solid (ice), atmosphere, with arrows indicating the annual
liquid or gas (water vapour). exchange of water between these storages. (Peixoto
and Kettani 1973).
The Hydrologic cycle
The earth’s water Budget (Distribution of water among the ocean, lands and
atmosphere)

This can be considered by the following: The upward motion that generates cloud can be
produced by:
• Evaporation

• Condensation • Convection in unstable air.

• Transport • Convergence associated with cyclones.
• Precipitation • Lifting of air by fronts.
• Ground water • Lifting of air over elevated topography.
• Transpiration (E.g. mountain range).
• Runoffs
The Hydrologic cycle
Convection • Convection: -atmospheric motion in the vertical
direction due to the sun heating the earth.

• Different surfaces absorb different amount of

energy.

The bubble of relatively warm air that • Warm air is less dense than surrounding air and
rises upward from the surface is called so rises.
a "thermal".
The Hydrologic cycle
Convergence
Tropical Cyclones
• Surface winds are deflected by friction towards
points of lower pressure system (L).

• Convergence generates rising motion that leads to

condensation of water vapour.
The Hydrologic cycle
Topography and clouds formation • Air is forced to rise when it encounters a
mountain range.

• If it rises enough, orographic clouds may be

formed.

• Orographic clouds are clouds that develop in

Topography (such as mountain range) of earth response to the forced lifting of air by the
influences the uplifting and sinking of air. earth’s topography.
The Hydrologic cycle
Formation of orographic clouds at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany (2013)
Understanding the Ocean water properties
Oceanographers at work Nansen Bottle Water Sampler
Used to measure Water properties from the surface to
some depth.

Elizabeth North 47
Constituents of the Ocean waters
Major constituents of sea water • Where did the ocean salt come from?
% Ion % Atoms Rocks containing the compound Sodium Chloride
55.3 Chlorine 55.3 Chlorine (NaCl) over millions of years had been washed over by
rains, rivers, and streams into the sea.
30.8 Sodium 30.8 Sodium Undersea volcanoes and hydrothermal vents.

7.7 Sulfate 3.7 Magnesium

3.7 Magnesium 2.6 Sulfur

1.2 Calcium 1.2 Calcium

1.1 Potassium 1.1 Potassium

[Link] 48
Ocean as a Receptacle

• Particulate mineral matter

• Dissolved salts

• Particulate organic matter (POM)

• Dissolved organic matter (DOM)

• Atmospheric precipitation

• Volcanic sources

• Water

[Link]
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Characteristics of the Ocean: Salinity
• Salinity: Different definitions. Geographical distribution of salinity
The total amount of dissolved materials in • Sea-surface salinity tends to be zonal with the:
grams in one Kilogram
of sea water. § Saltiest water at the mid-latitudes (why?).
• Not useful, why? Answer: evaporation is high.
§ Dissolved materials are impossible
to measure.
§ Less salty waters near the equator than the poles
(why?). Answer: Rain freshens the surface water.
§ Volatile materials like gases cannot
be measured.
Explain why we have less salty waters at high
§ In evaporating sea-water to dryness,
chlorides are lost in the last stages of latitudes.
drying.
50
Characteristics of the Ocean: Salinity

Latitudinal Salinity Gradient Controlled by:

+ evaporation, sea-ice formation

- precipitation, river runoff

units are o/oo or ppt or psu

(practical salinity unit)
EQ
Salinity in open ocean is 32 to 38
o/oo

Excess of evaporation over precipitation in mid-latitudes.

Excess of precipitation over evaporation at the equator.
Characteristics of the Ocean
Ocean temperature
• Temperature distribution at the sea surface is zonal i.e.
independent of longitude.
§ The warmest water is near the equator (why ?)

§ Coldest water is near the poles (Why ?)

§ The interpolating device used for temperature found

in the ocean is a platinum-resistance thermometer.

§ t [ oC ] = T [ K ] – 273.15 relates the scale in Protected and unprotected reversing thermometers is

set position, before reversal. Right: The constricted
Kelvin T to the scale in degrees Celsius t / oC part of the capillary in set and reversed positions. From
von Arx (1962).
Note that more modern devices exist today. The most
important thing is the need to be protected .
Characteristics of the Ocean
Global sea-surface temperature measurement

Latitudinal gradient of sea-water temperature

Temperature is zonal: i.e. along a latitude
circle or in the west-east direction.
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Vertical temperature gradient: open tropical Ocean
Vertical temperature gradient: open tropical Ocean
Solar radiation
Evaporation
Surface • When wind-driven mixing is very low, solar
temperature
< 1 mm
radiation warms a thin layer of water near the
surface. This increases local stability and further
Cool skin suppresses mixing. Why?

~1-10 cm
Warm layer

• Evaporation of water at the surface causes

ocean

evaporative cooling, producing a cooler ‘skin’

~
~ metres
residual
mixed layer layer at the top of the warm layer. This is
~ convectively unstable, promoting mixing within
the warm layer, and limiting the extent of the
Thermocline cooling in the skin layer.
Vertical temperature gradient: shallow temperature Ocean
Characteristics of the Ocean: Density
• Density variation within the ocean plays an
important role in water movement within the
ocean.

§ distribution of pressure

§ current distribution within the ocean.

• In practice density is not measured, but calculated
from in situ measurements of pressure,
temperature, conductivity (salinity)using the
equation of state for sea water.

This is a simple density-depth ocean water profile. You can see density increases with
increasing depth. The pycnocline are layers of water where the water density changes
rapidly with depth. This density-depth profile is typical of what you might expect to
find at a latitude of 30-40 degrees south.
Characteristics of the Ocean: Density

• Whereas the circulation of the sea • So a parcel of water with higher salinity can
actual float on top of water with lower
surface waters of the ocean are driven
salinity if:
by wind.

§ the parcel with higher salinity is quite a

• Circulation of the deep waters are bit warmer than the lower salinity parcel.
driven by density differences.

• Circulation in the depths of the ocean is

referred to as thermohaline circulation.
Idealised vertical profile of temperature, density and salinity
Temperature Salinity Density
0 Mixed Layer
Halocline Pycnocline
Thermocline
1
Depth (km)

4
The Ocean mixed layer and thermocline

• In the tropical and mid- latitude belts, at 10 – • Heat fluxes heat and cools the surface waters
200 m the sea is characterized by a thin mixed • The changes in temperature causes, density
layer at the sea-surface, having constant variations between the mixed layer and the deep
temperature and salinity.
waters.
• Greater contrast in density, means more work is
• As a result of the wind blowing on the ocean needed to mix the layer downwards and vice-
and stirring the upper layers. versa
• Turbulence in the mixed layer mixes heat
• The depth and temperature of the mixed layer downwards.
varies from day to day and from season to
season in response to: Heat fluxes and • Depends on: wind speed and intensity of
Turbulence. breaking waves.
Climate importance of the mixed layer

• Ocean - Atmosphere Interface: ~70% of Earth’s surface.

• The largest source of water vapour to the atmosphere.

• Huge heat capacity of the oceans slows down climate change (thermal inertia).

• Deep ocean's slow response  temperature may continue to rise for centuries after
stabilization of greenhouse gas levels.
Ocean Motions: Currents

• Ocean water contains horizontal, stream-like movements of water called ocean currents.

• Affected by weather, Earth’s rotation, and the position of the continents.

• Importance:

§ moves drifting organisms from place to place – plankton, disperse young

§ carries eggs and larvae of organisms that have external fertilization

§ brings food, oxygen

§ carries away waste, pollutants

Ocean in motion: Ocean currents

Ocean current are generated by the forces acting • Depth contours, shoreline configurations and
upon the water, such as: interaction with other currents influence a
current's direction and strength.

• the Earth’s rotation

• Ocean currents can flow for thousands of
• Wind kilometers.

• Temperature
• They influence the climate of many of the
• Salinity differences Earth’s regions (How?).
• Tides (by the gravitational pull of the
moon and the sun).
Ocean in motion: Ocean currents

• This cycle of warming and cooling is what creates the mixing and therefore the driving
climate system.

• The cooler water, in addition to sinking:

§ will make its way towards the equator to gather heat and then make its way towards the
poles to cool, completing the cycle.

§ this is the basic mechanism by which ocean currents are activated.

Types of Ocean Currents
• Surface Currents:

§ Horizontal movements of ocean water caused by wind and occurring at or near the
ocean’s surface are called surface currents.

§ Can reach depths of several hundred meters and lengths of several thousand kilometers.

§ The Gulf Stream is one of the longest surface currents, transporting 25 times more water
than all the rivers in the world combined.

§ Controlled by 3 factors:
üGlobal winds
üContinental barriers
üCoriolis Effect
Global Circulation Solar insolation at the equator is more
that at the pols (why?)
The Oceanic heat budget
• Sun’s energy reaching earth is absorbed by the ocean and land.

• Rest of energy absorbed by the atmosphere and its constituents.

• Most heat stored in the ocean is released into the atmosphere by evaporation and infrared
radiation.

• The variation in heat stored in the upper layers of the ocean are as a result of local
imbalance between input and output of heat through the sea surface.
The Oceanic heat budget
• The transfer heat through a surface is called a heat flux.

• Heat flux is more in the sea surface layers than the deeper layers.

• Heat is carried out of an area by currents called advection.

• Globally, the sum of the heat fluxes into or out of the ocean must be zero.

• The heat budget may be defined as the sum of the heat fluxes into and out of a volume of
water.
The Oceanic heat budget
Heat fluxes into a region of ocean:

Incoming Net
Short wave radiation Long-wave radiation
Qsw Qlw

Turbulent Fluxes
Atmosphere -ve Net latent heat
Qlat Net sensible heat
+ve
Qsen
-ve -ve
Air-sea
interface +ve +ve +ve

-ve
Qad
Ocean Advection Qnet = Qsw+Qlw+Qlat+Qsen+Qad
The Oceanic heat budget

• The major terms in the budget at the sea surface may be explain as below:

§ Insolation (QSW), the flux of sun light into the sea.

§ Net infrared radiation (QLW), net flux of infrared radiation from the sea.

§ Sensible heat flux (QH), the flux of heat out of the sea due to conduction.

§ Latent heat flux (QLE), the flux of heat carried by evaporated water.

§ Advection (QAD), heat carried away by currents.

The Oceanic heat budget
Importance of the ocean in the Earth’s energy budget

• The ocean stores and releases much more energy than the land.

§ Cp(ocean) = 4.0× 103 Jkg-1C-1

§ Cp(soil/rock) = 800 Jkg-1C-1

§ Cp(rock) ≈ 0.2Cp(water) Jkg-1C-1

Importance of the ocean in the Earth’s energy budget

• If the volume of water which exchanges • Mass of water = 1000 × 10

heat with the atmosphere on a seasonal = 100 000 kg
cycle (rainy – dry season) is 100 m3 per
square metre of surface. I.e. the mass from
the surface to a depth of 100 m. • If the volume of land which exchanges heat
with the atmosphere on a seasonal cycle is 1
§ Determine the mass in contact with m3.
the atmosphere (density of water =
1000 kg/m3). § Determine the mass of soil and rocks in
contact with the atmosphere (density of
rock = 3000 kg/m3)
Heat changes in the Ocean
Additions Losses

• Latitudinal gradient of solar heating • Back radiation of Surface

• Geothermal heating • Convection of heat to atmosphere

• Internal Friction • Evaporation

• Water vapour condensation

Factors influencing Insolation

• Incoming solar radiation vary with:

§ Latitude;

§ Season;

§ Time of day; and

§ Cloud cover.

• Apart from the night when no insolation exist, the height of the sun above the horizon:
§ Influence the cross section area of the surface absorbing sunlight.

§ Influenced by latitude.
Factors influencing Insolation
• Length of day, which depends on latitude and season.
• Alternatively, this depends on:

§ cloud-absorb and scatter radiation;

§ gas molecules such as H2O, O3 and CO2 that absorb radiation in some bands;

§ aerosols from volcanic and marine which absorb and scatter radiation; and
§ dust especially Sahara dust which scatter radiation. E.g. Sahara dust over the Atlantic.

• Reflectivity of the surface:

§ depends on solar elevation angle and roughness of sea surface.
Factors influencing Insolation
• Atmospheric water vapour content:

§ humid atmosphere radiates less heat to space; and

§ water temperature, hotter water radiate more heat. Depend on T4.

• Latent heat flux:

§ wind speed; and

§ relative humidity.
ü high winds and dry air evaporate much more than weak wind with relative
near 100%.
Factors influencing Insolation

• Sensible heat flux:

§ high speed; and

§ air-sea temperature difference.

ü high winds and large temperature difference cause high fluxes.

Factors influencing infrared flux
Response of the upper Ocean to winds
• Inertia motion: The Ocean response to impulse such as strong wind that set the water in motion.
This is the simplest solution to the equation of motion.

• The strong winds cause the water to move under the influence of Coriolis force and gravity,
with no other forces acting on the water. This is said to be inertia.

• The mass of water continue to move due to its inertia.

• According to the Newton’s 2nd law, if in space the water would move in a straight line.

• But on a rotating earth, the motion is much different.

Response of the upper Ocean to winds
Response of the upper Ocean to winds
Response of the upper Ocean to winds
Sea-atmosphere interactions
• Oceans and atmosphere are interacting continuously and transferring:
§ momentum,
§ heat,
§ fresh water

Wind stress Heat Evaporation

Precipitation and run-off
Qnet
 Air – Sea exchange

• Interaction with the Ocean Surface

• Unlike land surfaces, the ocean surface roughness changes with wind speed.

§ Higher winds  larger waves

 rougher surface

• The wave height that can be supported by a given wind speed is limited by gravity and the
weight of water in the wave, and the loss of energy to the ocean mixed layer via turbulent
mixing.
Air – sea exchange Charnock’s relation
Air – sea exchange Charnock’s relation
The problem of parameterizing the wind stress over
the ocean thus becomes one of determining the drag
coefficient as a function of variables that are easily
measured or modelled.

CD has most often been parameterized as a simple

function of wind speed with the assumption that
wind and waves are in equilibrium.

• Waves fully developed

• Wind constant and with long ‘fetch’.

 Ocean in motion: Upwelling and downwelling
Equatorial upwelling Coastal upwelling

upwelling an important process in the ocean's

ecological balance. Discuss.
Ocean in motion: Upwelling and downwelling

• Upwelling and downwelling serve the following

purposes:

§ mixing of the ocean waters;

§ nutrients from the ocean surface to the coastal
zones;

§ distribution of heat; and

§ delivering of oxygen to some depths.

Ocean in motion: Coriolis effect
• Coriolis effect causes a change in the net direction of ocean transport (large scale
winds and ocean currents).

• Coriolis effect is due to an inertial force that is important in a rotating frame of reference.

• How does a straight line looks like when referenced to a spinning?

• Water in the ocean may be divided roughly into three regions based on density:
surface water, the pycnocline/thermocline/halocline, and deep water.

NB: seawater density (pycno) is determined by temperature (thermo) and salinity (halo).
Ocean in motion
Ekman Transport/
Ekman spiral is due to the Coriolis effect:

• winds drive surface currents in the ocean;

• these currents are effected by the Coriolis effect (How?);

• when surface water move by the force of the wind, they in turn drag deeper layers of water
below them; and

• each layer of water is moved by friction from the shallower layer, and each deeper layer
moves more slowly relative to the layer above it, until the movement ceases at a depth of
about 100 meters, causing a spiral effect.
Ocean Motions: Waves
• A Wave is a rhythmic movement that carries energy through matter or space.

• When a wave passes through the ocean, individual water molecules move up and down in a
circular motion but they do not move forward or backward

• As waves approach shore, the wave length decreases and wave height increases

• When a wave breaks against the shore, the crest outruns the trough and the crest collapses-
this is called a breaker (water moves forward and backward at this point).
Causes of waves

• Wind

§ When wind blows across a body of water, friction causes the water to move along with the
wind.

§ Wave Height depends on Parts of waves

• Crest – highest point of a wave
üWind speed • Trough – lowest point of a wave
• Wave Height – vertical distance between the crest
and the trough
üDistance over which the wind blows
• Wavelength – horizontal distance between two
crests or two troughs
üLength of time the wind blows
Earthquakes- Waves caused by earthquakes are called Tsunamis

§ Tsunamis were once called Tidal waves, but they have nothing to do with the tides.

§ They are produced by earthquakes and other seismic disturbances. That’s why they’re also
called seismic sea waves.

§ Sudden outflow of water then it returns much higher.

Gravitational force of the Moon and Sun creates
The rise and fall in sea level is called a tide.

One low-tide/high-tide cycle takes about 12 hrs and 25 min.

Tidal range is the difference in ocean level between high-tide and low-tide.
Surface Gravity Waves
• Gravity waves are known waves in fluid dynamics that occurs when the force of gravity or
the buoyancy force tries to restore equilibrium in the fluid medium.

• For instance the interface that exist between the atmosphere and the ocean which gives rise to
wind waves.

• They are called surface gravity waves or surface waves when they occur on the air-sea
interface of the ocean.

• Those that occur within the body of the water (for areas of different densities) are called
internal waves.

• Tsunamis and ocean tides.

 Wind-Wave Interaction

• The ocean surface roughness depends on the wind stress over it. A feedback process exists
between wind speed, stress, and wave height.

+
wind speed wind stress wave height
+
+
-
Energy transfer
to ocean
Wind-Wave Interaction
• Waves generated in one location propagate to
• The assumption of a steady state is an
areas with different wind conditions
oversimplification.
• The rapid motion of synoptic weather
systems means winds are constantly § Waves not all generated by local wind
changing speed and direction.
§ Wind and wave directions NOT
necessarily the same
• Fetch is often limited: e.g. in flow off-
coast
§ Direction of mean wind and wind stress
not necessarily the same!
• Time required to achieve steady state
depends on wind speed: § Waves of different wavelengths may have
§ At low winds (~5 ms-s) steady state is different orientations and directions of
reached in about 2 to 3 hours. travel.

§ At high winds (~15 ms-1) it may take

24 hours.
Wind-Wave Interaction

• Waves of different wavelengths interact in a • One approach is to parameterize C D as a

non-linear fashion, transferring energy to function of ‘wave age’.
wavelengths both higher and lower then the
initial waves.
• The wave age is the ratio between the
friction velocity and phase-speed of the
waves at the peak in the wave spectrum.
§ Short wavelength (high frequency) waves
break easily, dissipating energy in white-
capping. • Transfer of energy to longer wavelengths
shifts the dominant wavelength with time.

§ Long wavelength (low frequency) waves • Longer waves travel faster than short, so
dissipate very little energy, and thus can that propagating waves disperse, becoming
travel far from their point of origin; separated by wavelength.
known as swell.
Wind-Wave Interaction

Evolution of wave spectrum with fetch (km)

80

After Hasselmann et al., 1973.

0.6

0.5 52
Wave Energy (m2Hz-1)

0.4

0.3 37

0.2 20
0.1 9.5
0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7
Wave frequency (Hz)
Wind-Wave Interaction
Wind-Wave Interaction
Surface Gravity Waves: Further explanations
• On the surface of water gravity waves are one of the most visible manifestations
of fluid motions.

• A fluctuation such as wind causes the water to rise above the equilibrium surface level, gravity
then pulls it back down, as water is heavier than air.

• Inertia acquired during the falling makes the water to penetrate below its level of equilibrium,
and hence generates a bouncing motion.
Surface Gravity Waves: Further explanations
• So why gravity waves propagate horizontally?

• The horizontal forces at play must be understood.

§ A rising parcel of water above the surface creates a pressure which is locally higher than
normal as a result of the added weight.

§ This pressure anomaly accelerates the fluid away from that place and piles it up a little
further, generating another surface rise some distance away.

§ The net effect is a translation of the disturbance, hence a traveling wave.

Surface Gravity Waves: Further explanations
• Surface waves, like most other fluid waves, are a mechanism by which the fluid moves
energy from one area to another without involving any significant movement of the fluid
itself.

• Energy and information are carried with the fluid acting as the support medium rather than
as the messenger.

• That property has a fundamental implication:

§ surface waves by their very nature are unable to transport any mass, including dissolved
pollutants and suspended matter.

§ this fact is clearly manifested in the behavior of a floating object (such as an autumn
leave on a pond) in the presence of surface waves:

ü the waves pass by, but the object only bobs up and down.
Surface Gravity Waves: Further explanations
• The energy carried by surface waves, must eventually be dissipated somewhere and will affect
the water contents there.

• Example, wave energy can be converted into turbulent mixing under wave breaking, and the
resulting mixing can stir the local water contents, such as pollutants, biological matter and heat.

• Wave energy can also be dissipated by bottom friction under wave-induced oscillatory flow, and
this friction can in turn create a shear stress sufficiently strong to entrain sediments into
suspension.

• In all, waves do not contribute directly to transport and redistribution of fluid-borne elements
along their travel but can be effective means by which a remote source of energy can affect the
concentration of dissolved and suspended matter at a distant location.
NB: This remark is true for most types of waves.
Ocean waves: velocity of idealized traveling waves on the ocean
• This is wave length dependent and depth of water.

[Link]
Ocean waves: velocity of idealized traveling waves on the ocean
so the limiting cases for the velocity expression are
The Equations of motion
• Fluids response to internal and external forces.

• This leads to a derivation of some of the basic equations describing ocean dynamics.

• Conservation laws leading to basic equations of fluid motion:

§ Conservation of Mass: Leads to Continuity Equation.

§ Conservation of Energy: Conservation of heat leads to Heat Budgets. Conservation of

mechanical energy leads to Wave Equation.
Dominant Forces for Ocean Dynamics
• Gravity is the dominant force.

• Buoyancy is the upward or downward force due to gravity acting on a parcel of water that is
more or less dense than other water at its level. (How?)

• Wave energy can also be dissipated by bottom friction under wave-induced oscillatory flow,
and this friction can in turn create a shear stress sufficiently strong to entrain sediments into
suspension.
The marine food web
• Plants and animals must have organic
carbon to survive.

• Organic carbon has high-energy

chemical bonds which are broken to
provide metabolic energy.

• Organisms make this organic carbon

either on their own or make use of
organic carbon produced by others.

• Species that make their own organic

carbon are called "primary producers".

• Else they are called secondary producers.

The marine food web

• Phytoplankton most of them cannot be seen by

the naked eyes).

• Plant form and bottom of food chain (e.g.

diatoms- in freshwater and saltwater and
golden algae- in lakes and oceans as well as
green algae and cyanobacteria).

Different types of Phytoplankton (magnified)

 The marine food web

Phytoplankton

• Found near the top of water (Why?)

üThey need sunlight for photosynthesis.

üThey float on top of water. They are carried by (winds, currents and tides).

ü They form the basics for marine life.

• Under good condition, phytoplankton can blossom - turning the water green.
Phytoplankton
The marine food web

Zooplankton

• They are animal form of phytoplankton.

E.g. (protozoa, small crustaceans, jellyfish

and worms).

• Protozoa- single celled organisms, leave in

the ocean, salt lakes, freshwater lakes.
The marine food web

Zooplankton

• Second on the food chain.

• They survive on bacteria and phytoplankton.

[Link]
119
Zooplankton
The marine food web

• Phytoplankton (typically algae) make

organic carbon through photosynthetic
reactions.

• Phytoplankton are eaten by the

zooplankton, who are in turn eaten by fish,
on up to large (marine mammals).

• Organic carbon that settles to the sea floor

is usually consumed by marine organisms
there.

(Credit: Christopher Krembs, NOAA, US

Where do Phytoplankton leave in the ocean and why? Department of Commerce).
They live in the sunlit portions of the ocean and use energy from the sun to convert inorganic carbon
into organic carbon.
The marine food chain Vrs food web
• The fundamental energy source is the sun.

• Food chains and food web show the

f l o w o f e n e rg y t h r o u g h t h e m a r i n e
ecosystem.

• Distinguish between food chain and food

web.

• NB: Food chain depicts a linear energy

flow relation.
The marine food chain Vrs food web

• Food web shows the multiple interactions

among the different types of organisms.

• Which of the two provide a more realistic

portrayal of the energy flow in the system
and why?
Hydrothermal vents

• These are places from the ocean floor where hot fluids (400 oC) related to volcanic activities
are released.

• Hydrothermal fluids can exceed 100 oC without boiling due to high pressure exerted by the
water at depth on the sea floor.

• Indicators of hydrothermal vents are the plumes of hot fluids issuing from hydrothermal
vents.
Hydrothermal vents
Vents may be divided into two categories namely:

• White smokers: Vents with lower fluid temperatures and consist of light-coloured
precipitates of silica, barium, calcium etc.

• Black smokers: Vents with black fluids due to presence of very fine sulfide mineral. It may
also contain iron, copper, zinc and other metals that have been dissolved from underlying
fresh basalt and concentrated in hot solution.

• The minerals can accumulate around the vents as sulfide deposits in mounts of chimney
shapes up to 45 m high (the vents can issue from the chimney).
Hydrothermal vents

Black smokers White smokers

Black smokers: Vents with black fluids due to presence White smokers: Vents with lower fluid temperatures and
of very fine sulfide mineral. It may also contain: Iron, consist of light-colored precipitates of silica, barium,
Copper, zinc and other metals. calcium etc.
Hydrothermal vents

• The vents occur as cracks in the top of cones of basalt (a dark, fine-grained rock that
make up most of the earth’s crust).

• They usually occur along mid-ocean ridges where planet crustal plates are slowly
spreading apart and magma is welling up from below.

Convection through Vents

• The heat of magma that rises continuously from the mantle to form new oceanic crust
causes water to convect through to 2 – 3 km of oceanic crust over thousands of square
metres.
Hydrothermal vents
Importance of vents

• Global fluxes of elements

• Deposits of economically valuable minerals and diverse assemblage of previously

unknown animals and bacteria that are supported by the chemically-rich waters.

Hydrothermal Circulation

• This occurs when seawater penetrates into the ocean crust, becomes heated reacts with the
crustal rock and rises to the seafloor.

• This process governs the composition of seawater it removes some compounds from sea
water (e.g. Mg, SO4-2) and adds many others (He, Mn Fe, H2, CO2).
Vents food web
Vents food Web
• This depends on sulfur and not sunlight as the source of energy.

• Bacteria convert chemicals from the sulfur-rich fluid that spewed out of vent to energy
in a process called Chemosynthesis.

• In addition, other animals eat bacteria, harbour bacteria or eat bacteria eaters.

• Vent worms have no mouth or digestive tract. But the chemosynthetic bacteria in
their tissue provide them nourishment. The Hemoglobin (which transports H2S to the
bacteria makes the vent worms red).

• Vents also attract Mussels, Shrimp, clams and crabs.

• In vent food chain bacteria are at the bottom and Octopuses occupy the top.
Hydrothermal vents

Tube worms

• Giant tubeworms live around

hydrothermal vents on the sea floor.

• These creatures are about the size of

your hand in shallower waters, but
in the ocean's deep they have been
found as big as eight feet long!
Sediments and sedimentation
Sediments may be defined as any particulate matter transported by the flow of fluids (water and air)
and eventually deposited in a layer of solid particle.

Sedimentation is therefore the process of deposition by settling of suspended materials.

Sedimentation may also be accumulated in sea, ocean and lakes over time.
Sediments and sedimentation
Origin/Sources

The sedimentation can be:

• Terrestrial (deposited on land);

• Marine (deposited in the ocean); and

• Lacustrine (deposited in lakes).

In the mid-ocean, most sediment originate from living organism. As they die their shells
sink to the ocean floor.
Sediments and sedimentation
Importance of sediments to oceanic life

• Sedimentation provides a means of renewal of nutrients in soils.

• May contain fossils.
• Non solidified lake beds can be used to study past climatic conditions.

Rate of sediment Settling

• Fluids carry particles in suspension.

• The process by which the particles settle to the bottom and form sediment is called
settling.

• Hence the rate at which the particles settle in still fluid may be called: settling
velocity, fall velocity and terminal velocity.
Sediments and sedimentation
Water pollution: Oceanic perspectives
• The diverse Ocean environment is a system of complex unions and interactions between the
atmosphere, water, bottom and their inhabitants.

• The ocean’s environment can be divided into the ocean depth, distance from the coast and the
way they are formed.

• Water pollution is the condition when water bodies opened and underground are polluted with
harmful solid, liquid or gaseous substances.

• Fertilizers for instance are put on the soil to help crops grow.

• However, if they drain into rivers, they also help water plants such as algae to grow so well
that they cover the entire surface of the water preventing plants below from getting sun light.
Water pollution: Oceanic perspectives

Nuclear waste like the container shown in the

picture on the left are dumped off Somali shores by
European companies as a cheap solution to getting
rid of toxic waste.

The dangerous waste dumping and the illegal

commercial fishing are targets of the Somali Coast
Guard.
Water pollution: Oceanic/ground water perspectives
The container ship Horizon Trader was
accused for illegal discharging of Persistent
Organic Pollutants, asbestos and possibly
with radioactive substances off North
Maharashtra near Hazira, Gujarat in India.
Water pollution: Rivers, lakes and streams perspective
• In Ghana, many of the tow ns and
villages do not have sewage plants so
their sewage goes straight into water
bodies.

• This untreated sewage contains bacteria

that can cause diseases in both human
beings and animals.

• They can also render the water bodies

dangerous to swim in or drink from.
Water pollution: Rivers, lakes and streams perspective
 Water pollution: Rivers, lakes and streams perspective
• These plants eventually die and decompose under bacteria activities
using the dissolved oxygen in the water.

• This causes fish and other living things in the water to

die of oxygen starvation.

• Waste liquids from some factories get dumped straight into water bodies. This waste may
contain dangerous substances such as mercury or its compounds.

• Though the mercury will not kill the fish, it stores up in their bodies and eventually poison
humans when we take the fish.
Water pollution: The Galamsey menace

The Galamsey menace: Its impact on Ghana’s economy. Discuss !!!

Ocean pollution: Oil pollution
• Most polluted water bodies (rivers, lakes, streams etc.) end up in the ocean and therefore can
pollute the ocean. But most significant is oil pollution.

• If tankers run aground or collide with other ships, oil can get spilled into the sea.

§ There it kills sea birds by poisoning them and by clogging up their wings preventing
them from flying to look for food.

• The oil when washed ashore also destroys all forms of life on the rocks, in mud and on
beaches. Example, coasts are covered in thick black mats, oiled bird carcasses wash up on
shore, otters swimming in toxic molasses etc.
Ocean pollution: Oil pollution

Oil enters the oceanic environment through:

Natural: - Leeching of unrefined crude oil from the ocean floor into the overlying water. This
phenomenon is far less damaging because; it is an extremely slow process.

Artificial: - This involves mostly refined oil, through the actions of man. This phenomenon is
important because, they usually involve hundreds and thousands of gallons of pollution.
Ocean pollution: Oil pollution
Percentage of World
Types of Oil Pollution Millions of Gallons
Total
Ship Source Oil Spills 37 5.24

Vessel Maintenance 137 19.4

Offshore Drilling 15 2.12

Natural Seeps 52 8.78

Up in Smoke 92 13.03

Down the Drain 363 51.42

Total World Oil
706 100
Pollution
(Chart taken from Ocean Planet web site
[Link]
Ocean pollution: Oil pollution sources
• Ship source oil spills: - From oil tanker accidents such as collision and grounding

• Vessel Maintenance: - from routine maintenance of ships.

• Offshore drilling pollution:- From operation discharges and drilling accidents during oceanic
oil explorations. In this situation the oil is released deeply under the water so it contaminates
the entire water as it rises to the top.

• Natural oil pollution:- from seepages of the ocean floors and eroding sedimentary rocks.

• Up in smoke: - The hydrocarbon (oil) from oil consumption in automobiles and industries
find their way into the ocean through atmospheric fallouts.

• Down the drain:- If the general public dump oil and oil products down storm drains.
Impact of oil pollution
This can be environmental and economical, but we will consider the environmental case.

• The nature of petroleum causes oil to form a layer called Slick on the water surface. The
slick is often large in size both in thickness and in length.

• Organisms that come into contact with the oil are affected both in their feeding and
respiration (why?).

• The oil can cover the ocean bottom, seeping into the burrows and making the sea floor
impossible to navigate.

• These make it impossible for life to exist in the areas that have been contaminated by oil
spills.
Environmental Effects of Oil Drilling
• Oil spillages, accidents, and illegal dumping of oil
barrels and produced water.

§ devastating ecological and health consequences

that can last for decades.

§ chemicals are deadly to animals.

§ an entire ecosystems can be extinct as a result of

oil contamination.

• Explain how oil pollution can affect aquatic life.

147
Oil pollution and Remedial Actions
• Skimmers: - skim the surface oils in oil spills, this allows direct removal. Skimmers have
limitations and so can only be utilized in specific cases.

• Gelling agents: - these are substances that react with oil to form solids, which can be cleaned up
by suction equipment.

• These agents make the cleanup of certain spills easier when the oil pollution in question is too
liquid to handle properly.
Oil pollution and Remedial Actions
Dispersants/Dilution:- These substances breaks oil into droplets where they will do less harm to
other organisms.

• The physical nature of oil promotes the formation of a slick, which can cover vast tracks of
water.

• This cohesiveness of oil is a leading factor that makes it so dangerous. Some organisms can
tolerate oil in small amounts.

• Dispersants are also often times the only recourse when dealing with oil spills that cannot be
properly dealt with.
Oil pollution and Remedial Actions
• Manual Removal: - A last resort method of oil spill clean-up is manual removal.

§ This method involves people physically cleaning the shores with high-pressure water
hoses, cleaning oiled animals and so forth.

§ Physically cleaning oil on shores is time consuming and very expensive and it can also
damage the shoreline further by killing and disturbing any animals left alive after the spill.
THE END