(will be updated throughout the term)
Course meets every Tuesday and Thursday from 8:45 am to 10:05 am.
| Date | Topic | Reading |
| 08/27 | Introduction: physical properties of seawater and observed circulation | Hartmann (1994) chapter 7 |
| 08/28 | Basic theory of large-scale wind-driven circulation: the Ekman layer and Sverdrup balance | Vallis (2012) chapter 4 |
| 09/03 | Sverdrup balance and western boundary currents, continued | |
| 09/05 | NO CLASS (Rosh Hashanah) | |
| 09/10 | Observed meridional overturning circulation (MOC), role of Southern Ocean winds | Marshall and Speer (2012) |
| 09/12 | CLASS CANCELLED | |
| 09/17 | Taylor-Proudmann theorem and its application to large-scale ocean circulation. Rotating tank experiment: point source of fluid on a rotating beta plane (the Stommel-Arons-Faller experiment) | |
| 09/19 | The Taylor-Proudmann theorem for flow on a rotating sphere: another look at the Sverdrup relation. Application to abyssal circulation. | Vallis (2006) chapter 15 |
| 09/24 | Discussion of Vallis (2006) chap. 15, maintenance of buoyancy-driven “sideways convection” | |
| 09/26 | Discussion of Vallis (2006) chap. 15, the Stommel-Arons model for abyssal flow, and Wunsch (2002) | Wunsch (2002) |
| 10/1 | The observed meridional heat transport | Hartmann (1994) sec. 7.7, 7.8, |
| 10/3 | EARLY ENDING (9:40 am). Uncertainty in observed heat transport | Wunsch (2005) |
| 10/8 | Observed heat transport continued. Heat transport in wind-driven gyres | Wang et al. (1995) |
| 10/10 | Heat transport in wind-driven gyres, continued. | |
| 10/15 | Simple model of total poleward heat transport | Stone (1978) |
| 10/17 | The partition of heat transport on an aquaplanet | Enderton and Marshall (2009) |
| 10/18 | EXTRA CLASS | |
| 10/22 | Heat transport on aquaplanets, con’t. | |
| 10/24 | CLASS CANCELLED (Brian is away) | |
| 10/29 | Using aquaplanet results to revisit Stone (1978) | |
| 10/31 | Multiple equilibria and abrupt climate change on an aquaplanet | Rose et al. (2013) |
| 11/5 | Stommel’s box model of the thermohaline circulation | Stommel (1961) |
| 11/7 | Multiple equilibria and hysteresis in the thermohaline box model | |
| 11/12 | Chris Colose: Heat transport and the hydrologic cycle over wide ranges of climate | Pierrehumbert (2002) |
| 11/14 | Pablo Paiewonsky: Arctic sea ice albedo feedback and nonlinear climate change | Winton (2008) |
| 11/19 | Oscar Chimborazo: Central versus East Pacific ENSO | Yu and Kao (2007) |
| 11/21 | ENSO continued. | |
| 11/26 | Tropical Pacific in past climates | LaRiviere et al. (2012) |
| 11/28 | NO CLASS (Thanksgiving break) | |
| 12/3 | Ocean heat transport and the warm climate / low gradient paradox | Rose and Ferreira (2013) |
| 12/5 | Effects of ocean heat transport in warm equable climate, con’t. | |
| 12/10 | CLASS CANCELLED (AGU meeting) |