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Boundary Conditions

February 2, 2017

At the ocean surface, heat and energy is exchanged between the air above and the water below. Every day, the sun rises and warms a thin layer of surface water. At night, without heat from the sun, the warm surface water cools down, becomes heavier, sinks, and mixes deeper into the ocean — creating a blank slate on the ocean surface for the process to start all over again. Alec Bogdanoff, a graduate student in the MIT-WHOI Joint Program, focused his research on subtle daily processes at this critical boundary that can change air-sea interactions over vast areas and longer periods. (Illustration by Eric S. Taylor, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution )