An Introduction to Ocean Turbulence

An introductory undergraduate textbook on ocean turbulence for courses in physical oceanography.

S. A. Thorpe (Author)

9780521859486, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 11 October 2007

266 pages, 100 b/w illus.
25.2 x 17.5 x 1.8 cm, 0.68 kg

'Mathematical complexity is avoided … Thus, young … students are allowed to absorb and understand essential ocean physics and the methods used to observe and measure turbulence in the oceans. Unlike other textbooks focusing on mathematical formulism and turbulence modelling, readership and usage of this introductory book shall be broad in marine science.' Environmental Earth Sciences

This textbook provides an introduction to turbulent motion occurring naturally in the ocean on scales ranging from millimetres to hundreds of kilometres. It describes turbulence in the mixed boundary layers at the sea surface and seabed, turbulent motion in the density-stratified water between, and the energy sources that support and sustain ocean mixing. Little prior knowledge of physical oceanography is assumed. The text is supported by numerous figures, extensive further reading lists, and more than 50 exercises that are graded in difficulty. Detailed solutions to the exercises are available to instructors online at www.cambridge.org/9780521859486. This textbook is intended for undergraduate courses in physical oceanography, and all students interested in multidisciplinary aspects of how the ocean works, from the shoreline to the deep abyssal plains. It also forms a useful lead-in to the author's more advanced graduate textbook, The Turbulent Ocean (Cambridge University Press, 2005).

1. Turbulence, heat and waves
2. Measurement of ocean turbulence
3. Turbulence in oceanic boundary layers
4. Turbulence in the ocean pycnocline
5. Turbulence dispersion
6. The energetics of ocean mixing
Appendices
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Environmental science, engineering & technology [TQ], Oceanography [seas RBKC]