The Turbulent Ocean

An overview of the current state of knowledge on ocean turbulence for graduate students and researchers.

The Turbulent Ocean describes the nature and causes of turbulent motion within lakes, oceans and seas - from shoreline to abyssal depths. It draws upon information from field observations and laboratory experiments. It is an excellent course text for senior undergraduate and graduate students, and a general overview for researchers.The subject of ocean turbulence is in a state of discovery and development with many intellectual challenges. This book describes the principal dynamic processes that control the distribution of turbulence, its dissipation of kinetic energy and its effects on the dispersion of properties such as heat, salinity, and dissolved or suspended matter in the deep ocean, the shallow coastal and the continental shelf seas. It focuses on the measurement of turbulence, and the consequences of turbulent motion in the oceanic boundary layers at the sea surface and near the seabed. Processes are illustrated by examples of laboratory experiments and field observations. The Turbulent Ocean provides an excellent resource for senior undergraduate and graduate courses, as well as an introduction and general overview for researchers. It will be of interest to all those involved in the study of fluid motion, in particular geophysical fluid mechanics, meteorology and the dynamics of lakes.