3402.09 - General Oceanography

3402.09

General Oceanography

7.5

To give an introduction to concepts and terms in oceanography and a general description of some physical processes in the ocean, as well as a general description of the world oceans with special emphasis on the waters surrounding the Faroes. The course also gives a brief overview of properties and processes in the atmosphere, weather, climate, and climate change.

General: Ocean floor, seawater, temperature, freezing point, salinity, density, thermocline, halocline, oceanographic sections and profiles. Waves: Wave speed, wavelength, wave height, frequency, period, energy, light and sound, tsunamis, refraction, wave generation and dissipation. Currents: Coriolis, Ekmandrift, upwellling, turbulence, wind-driven and thermohaline circulation in the world oceans, main currents in the world oceans and currents and water masses around the Faroe Islands. Tides: Earth-Moon-Sun system, tidal force, amphidromic point, tidal maps, residual current, and tides around the globe and in particular around the Faroe Islands. Fjords: Estaurine circulation, stratification, mixing, water exchange. Shelf: Currents, residual, mixing and fronts. Atmosphere: composition, structure, temperature, moisture, clouds, precipitation, air pressure and winds, weather patterns and storms, climate and climate change.

Lectures and exercises. As part of the course, the students have to participate in a short fjord cruise with R/V Magnus Heinason and write a report based on this.

Four-hour written examination. No auxiliary material allowed except calculator. The existing grade scale will be used. The result from the exam counts 75% of the grade, and the exercises during the course count 25%.

Knud Simonsen