H.M. van Aken
The Oceanic Thermohaline Circulation
An Introduction
Series: Atmospheric and Oceanographic Sciences Library, Vol. 39
▶ Specifically and thoroughly describes thermohaline circulation, a
crucial element in the climate system
2007, XVIII, 326 p. 153 illus.
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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.
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