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Questions tagged [oceanography]

74 questions
53
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Why does sound absorption in oceans depend on the pH?

I was reading "The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History", by Elizabeth Kolbert, and there she comments that high level of $CO_{2}$ in the atmosphere lowers the pH of oceans (which makes sense) and, consequently, diminishes sound absorption: WHY…
Gabriel Cozzella
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50
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4 answers

Why do some location on Earth have only one tidal maximum per day instead of two?

Most places in the ocean have two high tides and two low tides per "day" (~25 hours). But I remember reading that some locations only have one of each per day. This answer has some great explanations as well as helpful graphics and links. I'll…
uhoh
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14
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4 answers

How much do sea levels rise due to thermal expansion?

I was reading an article by the Smithsonian Institute about the rising sea levels. In it, they mention how warmer water expands more, thus it helps to raise the average sea level. This makes perfect sense to me as I've always known that heat…
Curious Layman
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12
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3 answers

Does water turn solid under deep ocean because of high pressure?

I know that we can make water solid with high pressure, so I think water will be solid in the deep ocean? If that is true, the depth of the ocean would be limited because water will become ice? Anyone know that maximum depth?
damphat
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11
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3 answers

What happens to the energy in an ocean wave after it breaks on a reef or the shore?

I understand that the conservation of energy essentially says that "energy can neither be destroyed or created but that it is transferred from one form to another." Given that, on the ocean, wind energy gets transferred to the sea where it then…
Brando
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Deuterium density in seawater

I heard today that deuterium for nuclear fusion could be extracted from the Oceans, in which it is present in "heavy water." I heard this claim: "Deuterium is distributed uniformly with Ocean depth." This contradicted my naive expectation that…
innisfree
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6
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2 answers

Tip of the Iceberg

Is it possible to approximate the volume of an entire iceberg if one happens to know the volume of the visible tip? (Assume the water is perfectly still.) If so, how may that be done?
DDS
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6
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2 answers

what determines the wavelength of waves on the open ocean?

Looking at the picture below, you can totally see that these are tiny boats. The water is practically washing over the hull of these boat models. But the water has boundaries that are very far away, and even if the water is very deep, it would (at…
shigeta
  • 259
5
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1 answer

Tides in lakes attached to the ocean

This is research for a book I am writing and I strongly suspect the answer is no, however I can not quite get Google to spit out a direct answer. :-) If you have a lake, attached directly to the ocean via a large river, would the water level in that…
Ken
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3 answers

Why do sea levels not rise uniformly around the world?

While reading the article Hawaii’s Beaches Are in Retreat, and Its Way of Life May Follow on The New York Times's website, I was surprised to find out that sea levels do not rise around the world at a uniform rate. Assuming that the global warming…
Shashank Sawant
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4
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3 answers

How does the Coriolis effect explain Ekman transport?

Before answering the question, keep in mind that I am a second year Biology student, with no experience in studying Physics and a very basic understanding of Mathematics. Thus, I would prefer a qualitative explanation if possible. I do not…
Growing6884
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4
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2 answers

How does the correlation length of weather emerge?

The question is pretty simple: If I know the weather where I stand, I can estimate the weather 5 meters or 1 km away away pretty well, but I'll have a hard time guessing what the weather is, say, 50 km away. Therefore, it seems that the climatic…
yohBS
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Ratio of horizontal to vertical kinetic energy in ocean

What is the ratio between horizontal and vertical kinetic energy in the ocean and what is the scale dependencies of this ratio ?
ucsky
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How far can diffused undersea light travel and still be perceived by the human eye?

Example: If one SCUBA diver looks past another SCUBA diver horizontally into negative space, how far away is the most distant emission of 'blue' light waves? Consider the sight angle in question to be that which offers the maximum perceived…
Tim
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3
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1 answer

Physical Interpretation of the Equation of Motion

Ocean dynamics can often be described by the equation of motion $$\frac{D\vec{u}}{Dt}=-\nabla\Phi-\frac{1}{\rho}\nabla p-\vec{f}\times\vec{u}.$$ I am searching for a physical meaning of this equation, to help my understanding. I particularly would…
Steven
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