Study questions:

Typical profiles and vertical structures

1. How deep is a typical mixed layer if mixed by wind? How deep can it reach if driven by cooling?
2. What are the typical vertical temperature and salinity profiles in the subtropical and subpolar regions of the North Pacific?
3. What are the dominant regions of net evaporation in the ocean?
4. What are the key components of the mixed layer heat budget?
5. Is the North Atlantic Ocean saltier or fresher on average than the Pacific? Why?
6. What regions of the ocean are characterized by large differences from summer to winter? What regions ahve the least seasonal variability?
7. What is the typical number of layers which people use to describe the ocean in general in mid-latitudes? What are the most general names and typical depth ranges of the layers? (Do not name a specific water mass like "North Atlantic Deep Water".)
8. What is the volumetrically most common water on earth and where is it found?
9. What are typical ventilation time scales for the following (a) mixed layer, (b) thermocline, (c) abyssal ocean