RSS 1.0WHOI Theses
Browse by
WHOI's educational role, at the graduate level, was formalized in 1968 with a change in its charter and the signing of an agreement with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for a Joint Program leading to doctoral (Ph.D. or Sc.D.) or engineer's degrees. Joint master's degrees are also offered in selected areas of the program. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is also authorized to grant doctoral degrees independently.
New theses are added as they are published.
Recent Submissions
-
Low frequency active sonar performance in the Arctic Beaufort Lens
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 2017-09)A newly discovered double ducted acoustic environment present throughout much of the Beaufort Sea in the Arctic has a major effect on active acoustic transmissions. This work performs an in depth analysis of how the lower ... -
Age of air and the circulation of the stratosphere
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 2017-09)The circulation of air in the stratosphere is important for the distribution of radiatively important trace gases, such as ozone and water vapor, and other chemical species, including ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons. ... -
MEMS IMU navigation with model based dead-reckoning and one-way-travel-time acoustic range measurements for autonomous underwater vehicles
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 2017-09)Recent advances in acoustic navigation methodologies are enabling the way for AUVs to extend their submerged mission time and maintain a bounded XY position error. Additionally, advances in inertial sensor technology ... -
Extraction of uranium from seawater : design and testing of a symbiotic system
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 2017-06)Seawater is estimated to contain 4.5 billion tonnes of uranium, approximately 1000 times that available in conventional terrestrial resources. Finding a sustainable way to harvest uranium from seawater will provide a ... -
Trait-based modeling of larval dispersal in the Gulf of Maine
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 2017-09)Population connectivity is a fundamental process that governs the spatial and temporal dynamics of marine ecosystems. For many marine species, population connectivity is driven by dispersal during a planktonic larval ... -
Wave-, wind-, and tide-driven circulation at a well-mixed ocean inlet
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 2017-06)The effects of waves, wind, and bathymetry on tidal and subtidal hydrodynamics at unstratified, shallow New River Inlet, NC, are evaluated using field observations and numerical simulations. Tidal flows are ebb-dominated ... -
Alexandrium catenella cyst dynamics in a coastal embayment : temperature dependence of dormancy, germination, and bloom Initiation
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 2017-06)Blooms of the dinoflagellate Alexandrium catenella cause paralytic shellfish poisoning syndrome and present an expanding public health threat. They are inoculated through the germination of benthic cysts, a process ... -
The geochemistry of methane isotopologues
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 2017-06)This thesis documents the origin, distribution, and fate of methane and several of its isotopic forms on Earth. Using observational, experimental, and theoretical approaches, I illustrate how the relative abundances of ... -
Pteropod shell condition, locomotion, and long-term population trends in the context of ocean acidification and environmental change
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 2017-06)Thecosome pteropods are planktonic mollusks that form aragonite shells and that may experience increased dissolution and other adverse effects due to ocean acidification. This thesis focuses on assessing the possible ... -
Geophysical and petrological constraints on ocean plate dynamics
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 2017-06)This thesis investigates the formation and subsequent motion of oceanic lithospheric plates through geophysical and petrological methods. Ocean crust and lithosphere forms at mid-ocean ridges as the underlying asthenosphere ... -
Ciliate micrograzer dynamics of the New England Shelf
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 2017-06)Protists play important roles in grazing and nutrient recycling, but quantifying these roles has been hindered by difficulties in collecting, culturing, and observing these often-delicate cells. During long-term deployments ... -
Studies of lateral dispersion in the ocean
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 1998-09)This thesis is written in two parts. The first part deals with the problem oflateral dispersion due to mesoscale eddies in the open ocean, and the interaction between the mesoscale strain and horizontal diffusion on ... -
A model of the temporal and spatial distribution of carbon monoxide in the mixed layer
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 1994-06)A field experiment demonstrated the presence of a diurnal cycle in the concentration of carbon monoxide ([CO]) in the upper ocean at the BATS site. A series of laboratory experiments and numerical simulations were carried ... -
Instabilities and radiation of thin, baroclinic jets
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 1982-06)Oceanic fluctuations are dependent on geographical location. Near intense currents, the eddy field is highly energetic and has broad meridional extent. It is likely that the energy arises from instabilities of the intense ... -
Tidal distortion in shallow estuaries
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 1984-03)The offshore tide becomes distorted as it propagates into shallow inlet/estuarine systems. Time asymmetries develop in the rise and fall of sea surface with consequent time and magnitude asymmetries in tidal currents. ... -
Capturing dynamics of marine inorganic carbon fluxes from diurnal to decadal timescales
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 2017-02)The marine carbon cycle plays an important role in regulating Earth’s climate. The vastness of the open ocean and the large variability in the coastal ocean provide obstacles to accurately quantify storage and transport ... -
Spatiotemporal population genomics of marine species : invasion, expansion, and connectivity
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 2017-02)Every genome tells a story. This dissertation contains four such stories, focused on shared themes of marine population dynamics and rapid change, with an emphasis on invasive marine species. Biological invasions are ... -
Geochemical controls on the distribution and composition of biogenic and sedimentary carbon
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 2017-02)Organic carbon (OC) preserved in marine sediments acts as a reduced carbon sink that balances the global carbon cycle. Understanding the biogeochemical mechanisms underpinning the balance between OC preservation and ... -
The remineralization of marine organic matter by diverse biological and abiotic processes
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 2017-02)While aerobic respiration is typically invoked as the dominant mass-balance sink for organic matter in the upper ocean, many other biological and abiotic processes can degrade particulate and dissolved substrates on ... -
Geophysical and geochemical constraints on the evolution of oceanic lithosphere from formation to subduction
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 2017-02)This thesis investigates the evolution of the oceanic lithosphere in a broad sense from formation to subduction, in a focused case at the ridge, and in a focused case proximal to subduction. In general, alteration of the ...
