P.M. Malanotte-Rizzoli - Böcker

One of the most crucial but still very poorly understood topics of oceanographic science is the role of ocean processes in contributing to the dynamics of climate and global change. This book presents a series of high level lectures on the major categories of ocean/atmosphere processes. Three of these major issues are the focus of the lectures: (1) air-sea interaction processes; (2) water mass formation, dispersion and mixing; (3) general circulation, with specific emphasis on the thermohaline component. Global examples in the world ocean are provided and discussed in the lectures. In parallel, the Mediterranean Sea is a laboratory basin in providing analogues of the above global processes relevant to climate dynamics. They include the Mediterranean thermohaline circulation with its own "conveyor belt"; intermediate and deep water mass formation and transformations, dispersion and mixing. This book aims to provides a review of fundamental lectures on these processes, coupled with global examples and their Mediterranean analogues. It presents fundamental lectures on the oceanographic processes that are crucial to understanding and assessing the role of the ocean in climate dynamics.Such processes include air-sea interactions; water mass formation; dispersion and mixing; large-scale thermohaline circulation processes. Global examples are discussed together with their analogues occurring in the Mediterranean Sea.

The Eastern Mediterranean is the most nutrient impoverished and oligotrophic water body known. The unique feature of the Mediterranean is the presence of an eastward longitudinal trend in available nitrate/phosphate ratios, which apparently induces a west-to-east variation in the structure of the pelagic food web and trophic interactions. In this context the Mediterranean, in particular its Eastern basin, provides a platform to study hypotheses related to phosphate limitation of production and the shift between "microbial" and "classical" modes of operation of the photic food web. This work assesses our knowledge of the contrasting ecosystems of the Eastern Mediterranean on the basis of ongoing national/international programmes, from both phenomenological and modelling perspectives, and identifies the major environmental issues, on both regional and basin scales, in relation to eutrophication, pollutant transport and system health. The interdisciplinary aspects of marine ecosystems are covered, ranging from marine biology and chemistry to physical oceanography.

The Eastern Mediterranean is the most nutrient impoverished and oligotrophic water body known. The unique feature of the Mediterranean is the presence of an eastward longitudinal trend in available nitrate/phosphate ratios, which apparently induces a west-to-east variation in the structure of the pelagic food web and trophic interactions. In this context the Mediterranean, in particular its Eastern basin, provides a platform to study hypotheses related to phosphate limitation of production and the shift between "microbial" and "classical" modes of operation of the photic food web. This work assesses our knowledge of the contrasting ecosystems of the Eastern Mediterranean on the basis of ongoing national/international programmes, from both phenomenological and modelling perspectives, and identifies the major environmental issues, on both regional and basin scales, in relation to eutrophication, pollutant transport and system health. The interdisciplinary aspects of marine ecosystems are covered, ranging from marine biology and chemistry to physical oceanography.