Oceanography

Oceanography

The scientific studies of the ocean.

Industry: Earth science

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Oceanography

Countercurrent

Earth science; Oceanography

A current flowing adjacent to another current both in the opposite direction.

A north-south reference line, particularly a great circle through a planet's geographical poles. A terrestrial meridian is a line on Earth's surface that connects points having the same astronomical ...

Bearing

Earth science; Oceanography

A system that measures in reference to the cardinal points of a compass in 90 degree quadrants.

Inertial instability

Earth science; Oceanography

An instability of geostrophic (cyclostrophic) motion due to imbalance between pressure gradient and inertial forces for an infinitessimal disturbance that meridionally (radially) displaces fluid. ...

Halocline

Earth science; Oceanography

A vertical salinity gradient in some layer of a body of water, which is appreciably greater than the gradients above and below it; also a layer in which such a gradient occurs. The principal ...

Anticyclone gyre

Earth science; Oceanography

A closed circulation system, ranging in size from a few hundred metres to thousands of kilometers; associated with the concentrated centre of highest pressure in an anticyclone.

Coriolis parameter

Earth science; Oceanography

A measure of planetary rotation as a function of latitude. The parameter denoted by f varies with latitude \phi according to f= 2\Omega\sin\phi, in which \Omega is the frequency of planetary ...