Oceanography The Official Magazine of
The Oceanography Society
Volume 22 Issue 01

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Volume 22, No. 1
Pages 228 - 233

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HANDS-ON OCEANOGRAPHY • Mix it Up, Mix it Down: Intriguing Implications of Ocean Layering

By Peter J.S. Franks  and Sharon E.R. Franks 
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Purpose of Activity

Using a physical simulation, we explore the vertical density structure within the ocean and how layering (density stratification) controls water motion, impedes nutrient transport, and regulates biological productivity. Our demonstration enables students to visualize the formation of horizontal layers in the ocean’s interior and the slow undulation of large-amplitude internal waves. We show that stratification limits the vertical transport of energy and nutrients. The region of strong vertical density gradient—the pycnocline—is a barrier to the downward propagation of wind energy as well as the upward transport of nutrients into the euphotic zone.

Citation

Franks, P.J.S., and S.E.R. Franks. 2009. Hands-on oceanography: Mix it up, mix it down—Intriguing implications of ocean layering. Oceanography 22(1):228–233, https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2009.27.

References

Karp-Boss, L., E. Boss, and J. Loftin. 2007. Diffusion at work: An interactive simulation. Oceanography 20(3):127–131. Available online at: http://tos.org/hands-on/activities/20.3_karp-boss_et_al.pdf (accessed January 21, 2009).

Nadiga, B.T., and J.M. Aurnou. 2008. A tabletop demonstration of atmospheric dynamics: Baroclinic instability. Oceanography 21(4):196–201. Available online at: http://tos.org/oceanography/issues/issue_archive/issue_pdfs/21_4/21.4_nadiga.pdf (accessed January 21, 2009).

Parsons, T.R., and C.M. Lalli. 1988. Comparative oceanic ecology of the plankton communities of the subarctic Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Pp. 317–359 in Oceanography and Marine Biology: An Annual Review, Volume 26. H. Barnes and M. Barnes, eds, Aberdeen University Press.

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