The Theory of Large-Scale Ocean Circulation

R. M. Samelson is a Professor of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University. He received a B.S. in Physics from Stanford University, California and an M.S. in Mathematics and Ph.D. in Physical Oceanography from Oregon State University. He was the recipient of an Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award and has served as editor of the Journal of Physical Oceanography and on numerous scientific program and review committees. He has authored or co-authored more than seventy-five peer-reviewed scientific publications on topics in physical oceanography, atmospheric science and geophysical fluid dynamics, as well as a book on Lagrangian motion in geophysical flows and several book chapters on various aspects of physical oceanography and geophysical fluid dynamics. This book is based on lecture notes that he has developed over the past decade for a graduate course in large-scale ocean circulation theory at Oregon State University.

• 1. Basic physical principles and equations; 2. Reduced equations for large-scale motion; 3. Planetary geostrophic vorticity dynamics; 4. Stratified large-scale flow; 5. Circulation in a rectangular mid-latitude basin; 6. Eddy-driven subsurface motion; 7. Circumpolar flow; 8. Mid-depth meridional overturning; 9. Thermohaline effects; 10. Theory and observation.

'… provides a very nice deductive derivation of the planetary geostrophic equations using scaling analysis, and is one of the most rigorous treatments that this reviewer has seen … There is also a nice selection of exercises at the end of the book relating to each chapter, varying in degree of difficulty. Speaking as an educator, this is a useful and welcome resource for those who plan on using this book as a class text … I would recommend this book to anyone who wishes to gain an understanding of some of the fundamental ideas that underpin our current thinking about the dynamics that govern the large-scale circulation. I would also recommend it as a graduate-level text for a dynamics-based physical oceanography class.' Andrew M. Moore, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society