Ocean Processes in Climate Dynamics

One of the most crucial but still very poorly understood topics of oceanographic science is the role of ocean processes in contributing to the dynamics of climate and global change. This book presents a series of high level lectures on the major categories of ocean/atmosphere processes. Three of these major issues are the focus of the lectures: (1) air-sea interaction processes; (2) water mass formation, dispersion and mixing; (3) general circulation, with specific emphasis on the thermohaline component. Global examples in the world ocean are provided and discussed in the lectures. In parallel, the Mediterranean Sea is a laboratory basin in providing analogues of the above global processes relevant to climate dynamics. They include the Mediterranean thermohaline circulation with its own "conveyor belt"; intermediate and deep water mass formation and transformations, dispersion and mixing. This book aims to provides a review of fundamental lectures on these processes, coupled with global examples and their Mediterranean analogues. It presents fundamental lectures on the oceanographic processes that are crucial to understanding and assessing the role of the ocean in climate dynamics. Such processes include air-sea interactions; water mass formation; dispersion and mixing; large-scale thermohaline circulation processes. Global examples are discussed together with their analogues occurring in the Mediterranean Sea.