Ocean and sea level

FaculteitFaculty of Geosciences

NiveauMaster

Studiejaar2026-2027

Beschrijving

Course goals

Please note: the information in the course manual is binding.

At the end of the course the students will have developed a generic and intuitive understanding of the physical processes responsible for the present-day ocean circulation and sea level rise.

By the end of the course, students will:

Have an understanding of the physical properties of the sea water
Have an understanding of sea level rise and the role of the ocean in sea level rise
Have a good intuitive understanding of the physical laws that drive the ocean circulation
Appreciate the difficulty of measuring the ocean circulation and sea level rise, and how a virtual ship assignement can help with this
Appreciate the role that ocean circulation plays in climate and marine ecosystems
Have developed coding and data analysis skills using Python

Content

Physical oceanography is the field of study that deals with the physical properties and dynamics of the ocean, including the influence of the ocean on the climate of the atmosphere and it plays an important role in sea level rise. The course will start with describing the ocean properties, such as sea level, temperature, salinity and density and will discuss how they are relevant for the ocean circulation. Both practical measurement techniques and ocean general circulation models will be introduced as well as the basic physical processes driving sea-level rise. The impact of the earth rotation and the associated Coriolis force on the ocean circulation will be used to explain fundamental ocean phenomena such as geostrophic currents, the large-scale wind-driven ocean circulation and western boundary currents (e.g. Gulf Stream). Upper ocean processes in the mixed layer and the Ekman transport will be covered and used to explain upwelling and downwelling phenomena (water moving from depth to the surface and vice-versa). Processes such as the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and water mass transformation associated with the thermohaline circulation will be presented. Finally we will address the contribution of ice sheets to sea-level rise.

The course includes discussions, evaluation sessions and group projects.

Reviews0 reviews

Nog geen reviews voor dit vak. Wees de eerste!

Heb jij dit vak gevolgd?

Deel je ervaring met toekomstige studenten. Inloggen met je Universiteit Utrecht mailadres duurt één minuut.

Schrijf een review