Ocean Dynamics and the Carbon Cycle

Ric Williams is a Professor of Ocean Sciences at Liverpool University. He has worked on a wide range of research problems in Ocean Sciences: how the ocean circulates, how heat is transported, how the supply of nutrients sustains phytoplankton growth and how carbon is partitioned between the atmosphere and ocean. He teaches two courses to undergraduates, 'Climate, Atmospheres and Oceans' and 'Ocean Dynamics'. Mick Follows obtained a Ph.D. in Atmospheric Sciences from the University of East Anglia in 1991. After a year as a Royal Society Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz, Germany, he moved to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he is now a Senior Research Scientist in the Department for Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences. His research is focused on understanding the interplay of physical, chemical and biological processes which determines the distributions and fluxes of elements in the ocean.

• Preface; List of symbols; Part I. Introduction: 1. Why is the ocean important?; 2. An introductory view of the ocean; Part II. Fundamentals: 3. Transport fundamentals; 4. Physics fundamentals; 5. Fundamental biological processes; 6. Carbonate chemistry fundamentals; Part III. Physical Phenomena and their Biogeochemical Signals: 7. Seasonality of the upper ocean; 8. Ocean gyres and intense currents; 9. Ocean eddies; 10. Ventilation; 11. Cycling and transport of nutrients and carbon; 12. The deep ocean and meridional overturning; Part IV. Synthesis: 13. Integral frameworks; 14. A forward view; Appendix: mathematical definitions and momentum equations; Glossary; Answers; References; Index.

'This is an outstanding book, likely to become a standard text for those needing to know about both ocean physics and biogeochemistry. Its main achievement is to cover both aspects in sufficient depth to provide a genuinely useful treatment of key concept[s], but at a sufficiently gentle technical and mathematical level to remain accessible to both communities. The excellent sets of problems (and solutions) will help readers to increase their understanding of the topics covered. I can see the book being widely adopted for upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses, as well as being used by more experienced researchers needing to increase their knowledge and understanding of the other discipline.' Professor David Marshall, University of Oxford