Ocean Circulation
A Parameterization of Local and Remote Tidal Mixing
Casimir de Lavergne, Laboratoire d’Océanographie et du Climat Sponsored by: Physical Oceanography Department
Read MoreTowards an Understanding of Internal Wave Energy Pathways on the Continental Shelf
Ruth Musgrave, WHOI Sponsored by: Physical Oceanography Department
Read MoreThe Seasonal Cycle of Upper-Ocean Mixing in the Bay of Bengal
Deepak Cherian, NCAR Sponsored by: Physical Oceanography Department
Read MoreStudy Finds No Direct Link Between North Atlantic Ocean Currents, Sea Level Along New England Coast
A new study by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) clarifies what influence major currents in the North Atlantic have on sea level along the northeastern United States. The study, published June 13 in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, examined both the strength of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC)—a conveyor belt of currents that move warmer waters north and cooler waters south in the Atlantic—and historical records of sea level in coastal New England.
Read MoreSpecial Physical Oceanography Department Seminar: Scale and Rossby Number Dependence of Observed Wind Responses to Ocean-Mesoscale Sea Surface Temperatures
Niklas Schneider, University of Hawai’i Sponsored by: Physical Oceanography Department
Read MoreDoctoral Dissertation Defense of Thesis: Advancing the Theory and Applications of Lagrangian Coherent Structures Methods for Oceanic Surface Flows
Margaux Filippi, MIT-WHOI Joint Program Sponsored by: Academic Programs Office
Read MoreThe Arctic Ocean Mixed Layer from Basin Scales to Submesoscales
Sylvia Cole, WHOI Sponsored by: Physical Oceanography Department
Read MoreThe Subpolar Gyre Regulates Ecosystems in the North Atlantic Ocean
Geodynamics Seminar Hjálmar Hátún, University of the Faroe Islands Sponsored by: Academic Programs Office
Read MoreThe Ocean Conveyor
Today’s climate system is influenced by the ocean’s conveyor-like global circulation.
Read MoreEl Niño & Other Oscillations
El Niño is a warming of surface waters in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. Together with, La Niña, these make…
Read MoreCurrents, Gyres, & Eddies
What are Currents, Gyres, and Eddies? Even on the calmest days, Earth’s oceans are constantly on the move. At the…
Read MoreOcean Circulation
Ocean currents and water properties play large roles in Earth’s climate and ecosystems.
Read MoreWaters West of Europe Drive Ocean Overturning, Key for Regulating Climate
In the Atlantic MOC, warm, salty, shallow waters are carried northward from the tropics by currents and wind, and then converted into colder, fresher, deep waters that return southward through the Iceland and Irminger basins. In a departure from the prevailing scientific view, the study shows that most of the conversion from warm to cold water – or ‘overturning’ and its month-to-month variability – is occurring in regions between Greenland and Scotland, rather than in the Labrador Sea off Canada, as many past modeling studies have suggested.
Read MoreThe long memory of the Pacific Ocean
Researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and Harvard University have found that the deep Pacific Ocean lags a few centuries behind in terms of temperature and is still adjusting to the entry into the Little Ice Age. Whereas most of the ocean is responding to modern warming, the deep Pacific may be cooling.
Read MoreForecasting Where Ocean Life Thrives
Where do plankton grow more prolifically in the ocean? At “fronts” where different water masses meet. In this case, less-salty,…
Read MoreCan We Improve Monsoon Forecasts?
Scientists are exploring the ocean to gain new insights into forecasting the still-unpredictable monsoon rains that billions of people depend on to irrigate their crops
Read MoreA Hitchhikers Guide to the Ocean
Like someone monitoring the traffic flow on a road system, MIT-WHOI Joint Program graduate student Sam Levang is examining the flow of the ocean’s global circulation, which has big impacts of our climate.
Read MoreForecasting Where Ocean Life Thrives
The ocean, like the atmosphere, has “fronts,” and it’s hardly quiet on them. In fact, that is where the plankton that provide the foundation of the ocean food web are most prolific.
Read MoreWhat If the Ocean’s Climate-Controlling ‘Conveyor Belt’ Came to a Halt?
quotes Delia Oppo
Gulf Stream is weakest its been in 1,600 years, study says
quotes Delia Oppo
Climate change runs AMOC with Atlantic currents: studies
highlights WHOI study on the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation
Atlantic Ocean Circulation at Weakest Point in 1,600 years
Atlantic Ocean Circulation at Weakest Point in More Than 1500 years New research led by University College London (UCL) and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) provides evidence that a key cog in the global ocean circulation system hasn’t been running at peak strength since the mid-1800s and is currently at its weakest point in the past 1,600 years. If the system continues to weaken, it could disrupt weather patterns from the United States and Europe to the African Sahel, and cause more rapid increase in sea level on the U.S. East Coast.
Read MoreA Double Whammy for Corals
Scientists know that gradually rising ocean temperatures can push corals past a threshold and cause them to bleach. But combine…
Read MoreHow moored profilers work
Moored profilers travel up and down a mooring cable every five days, measuring seawater properties. (Animation by Jack Cook, Woods Hole…
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