Notes on the 1974 summer study program in geophysical fluid dynamics at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Abstract

This year the central topic was the general circulation of the oceans. Some of the basic ideas used in wind-driven and thermohaline studies were presented in the introductory course of lectures and simple models that have guided our thinking in the development of the topic were discussed. As part of the introductory lectures Peter Niiler developed a model of the mixed layer, exploring the reasoning and the parameterization behind the theories of this important boundary region at the surface of the ocean. Dennis Moore gave a careful account of transient flows in equatorial regions and showed how dynamical conditions on the eastern and western boundaries are satisfied by a superposition of planetary, Kelvin and Yanai waves. Peter Rhines concluded the series with a discussion of topographically induced low frequency motions. At the request of the students Joseph B. Keller gave a lecture on "Solution of Partial Differential Equations by Ray Theory".