108 Terms
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Physical oceanography
The scientific study of the physical conditions and processes related to the motions and physical properties of ocean currents and waters.
Industry: Earth science
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Physical oceanography
Nutrients
Earth science; Physical oceanography
The nutrients used as tracers in physical oceanography are essential dissolved chemicals eaten by plants in the ocean, i.e. phytoplankton. The basic nutrients are carbon, nitrogen and phosphorous, ...
Net Primary Productivity (NPP)
Earth science; Physical oceanography
The net annual uptake of carbon dioxide by vegetation. It is equal to the GPP minus autotrophic respiration. This is difficult to measure directly in terrestrial ecosystems, not only because it ...
North Atlantic Drift
Earth science; Physical oceanography
The northward limb of the anticyclonic subtropical gyre in the North Atlantic Ocean. It is a northerly extension of the Gulf Stream but, due to a different dynamical regime, is a broader, slower ...
Gulf of Bothnia
Earth science; Physical oceanography
The northern section of the Baltic Sea. It is further divided into the northern Bay of Bothnia and the southern Bothnian Sea, the latter of which adjoins the Aland Sea to the south.
International Association for Physical Oceanographers (IAPO)
Earth science; Physical oceanography
The name of what is now known as the IAPSO from 1948 to 1967.
Inshore Peru Current
Earth science; Physical oceanography
The name sometimes given to the combination of the Chile Coastal Current (CCC) and the Peru Coastal Current (PCC).
Sverdrup transport
Earth science; Physical oceanography
The net meridional flow of mass in the interior of the ocean gyres away from the lateral boundaries.
