Syllabus

Unit I:

Physical properties of Sea water, density of sea water, density parameters, specific volume
anomaly, Temperature, Salinity, Cholorinity and their determination, distribution of temperature,
salinity and density in space and time, The oceanic Mixed Layer and Thermocline, Sea level
variation, acoustical and optical properties of sea water, Formation and classification of water
masses, T-S diagram and Water masses of the world ocean.

Waves and Tides: General aspects of ocean waves, Waves and Tides; wave characteristics, wave
generation and propagation, Sea and Swell, Deep and Shallow water waves, storm surges and
tsunamis; Tides and tide generating forces; their causes, variation, and types, Tidal currents.
Unit II:

Equations of Motion: Dominant Forces for Ocean Dynamics, Coordinate Systems, Types of Flow
in the Ocean, Conservation of Mass and Salt, The Total Derivative, Momentum Equation,
Conservation of Mass: Continuity Equation, Solutions to the Equations of Motion. Stability in the
Ocean, Mixing in the Ocean.

Geostrophic Currents: Hydrostatic Equation, Geostrophic Approximation, Geostrophic Currents,
Barotropic and Baroclinic Flow. Response of the Upper Ocean to Winds: Ocean Circulation;
Inertial Motion, Ekman Layer and Ekman currents, Ekman Spiral, Vertical circulation, Ekman
Transports, Application of Ekman Theory; upwelling and sinking, Thermohaline circulation,
Currents in the Ocean, Westward intensification of currents, warm and cold currents of the major
world ocean. Seasonal currents in the North Indian Ocean, Deep circulation in the ocean:
Importance of the deep circulation, role of the oceans in climate and abrupt climate change,
Stommel-Arons' theory of the deep circulation, Antartic Circumpolar Current. Equatorial
Processes: Surface and subsurface currents, El Niño/La Niña: The variability of the equatorial
currents, El Niño influence global weather.