Ocean physics

The Ocean Physics Group offers a program with an appealing combination of intellectual challenge and societal relevance. The earth's rotation and subtle competing effects of salinity and temperature lead to counter-intuitive dynamical behaviour. Turbulent motions at scales as small as a few millimetres influence circulation at the megametre scale of ocean basins, with consequences for climate, resource utilisation, and the protection of the marine environment. Observing phenomena at all these scales is technically difficult, and the nonlinearity of the governing equations presents major theoretical challenges.  UVic partners extensively with the Institute of Ocean Sciences, and the Canadian Centre for Climate and Modelling Analysis.