Ocean processes
Physical processes are ultimately driven by winds, tides and density differences (due to solar heating, inputs of freshwater from rivers, rain and melting ice). Scales range from centimetres and less than a second for turbulence to thousands of kilometres and centuries for the overturning circulation. Physical processes define the motion in our seas. Chemical and biological processes define oceanic contents – nutrients, plant and animal life. Long-term geophysical processes define the shape of the oceans. The extreme depth contrast between deep ocean basins (typically 4000 m or more) and shelf seas (typically less than 200 m deep) inhibits exchange between them; different processes dominate tending to lead to their separate study.
Shelf and coastal processes
In the Shelf Seas and Coastal Processes subgroup of Marine Systems Modelling we develop and use computer simulations of the marine environment, in particular the UK seas. We simulate both idealised and fully complex (realistic) scenarios with the aim of understanding the physical processes that control the seas on all scales.
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Shelf sea impacts
The coastal and shelf seas (Figure. 1) form a vital part of our environment. Currently, over two billion people globally live within 100 kilometres of the coast. About 1.2 billion people get almost 20% of their animal protein from fish.
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Exchanges across the shelf edge
Continents are surrounded by a region of shallower ‘shelf’ sea, typically less than 200 metres (m) deep. This contrasts with most of the ocean being 2,000 to 6,000 m deep. The shelf sea and deep ocean meet at the ‘shelf edge’ where the seafloor slopes steeply. The larger deep ocean is important to climate.
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