The California Current

The California Current
Author: Stan Ulanski
Publisher: UNC Press Books
Total Pages: 329
Release: 2016-02-13
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 1469628252

The California Current--part of the large, swirling North Pacific gyre--flows slowly southward along the west coast of North America, stretching nearly 2,000 miles from southern British Columbia to the tip of Baja California in Mexico. To a casual observer standing on the shore, the vast current betrays no discernible signs, yet life abounds just over the horizon. Stan Ulanski takes us into the water on a journey through this magnificent, unique marine ecosystem, illuminating the scientific and biological marvels and the astonishing array of flora and fauna streaming along our Pacific coast. The waters of the California Current yield a complex broth of planktonic organisms that form the base of an elaborate food web that many naturalists have compared to the species-rich Serengeti ecosystem of Africa. Every year, turtles, seals, fish, and seabirds travel great distances to feast in the current's distinct biological oases and feeding sites. Apex predators, such as the California gray whale, humpback whale, salmon shark, and bluefin tuna, undertake extensive north-south migrations within the current to find enough to eat. The California Current energizes us to celebrate and protect a marine ecosystem integral to the myriad fisheries, coastal communities, and cultures of the Pacific coast.

Regional Fisheries Oceanography of the California Current System

Regional Fisheries Oceanography of the California Current System
Author: Sam McClatchie
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 253
Release: 2013-09-30
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9400772238

The California Current System is one of the best studied ocean regions of the world, and the level of oceanographic information available is perhaps only surpassed by the northeast and northwest Atlantic. The current literature (later than 1993) offers no comprehensive, integrated review of the regional fisheries oceanography of the California Current System. This volume summarizes information of more than 60-year California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigation (CalCOFI). While providing a large bibliography, the intent was to extract themes relevant to current research rather than to prepare a compendious review of the literature. The work presents a useful review and reference point for multidisciplinary fisheries scientists and biological oceanographers new to working in the California Current System, and to specialists wishing to access information outside their core areas of expertise. In addition it aims to deliver an up to date reference to the current state of knowledge of fisheries oceanography in the California Current System.

Upwelling Systems of the World

Upwelling Systems of the World
Author: Jochen Kämpf
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 443
Release: 2016-08-29
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3319425242

Upwelling systems are special places in the oceans where nutrient-enriched water is brought into the euphotic zone to fuel phytoplankton blooms that, via marine food-web interactions, create the world’s richest fish resources. This book introduces the reader to the interdisciplinary science of upwelling and provides a comprehensive overview of the world’s most productive marine ecosystems in the context of climate variability, climate change and human exploitation. This material presented is suitable for undergraduate and postgraduate study or just for anyone interested to learn about the creation of life in the oceans and how this is compromised by human activities.

Ocean Currents

Ocean Currents
Author: Robert Marsh
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 554
Release: 2021-06-30
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0128160608

Ocean Currents: Physical Drivers in a Changing World opens with a general introduction to the character, measurement, and simulation of ocean currents, leading to a physical and dynamical framework for understanding the wide variety of flows encountered in the oceans. The book comprises chapters covering distinct aspects of contrasting ocean currents: broad and slow, deep and shallow, narrow and swift, large scale and small scale, low latitudes and high latitudes, and moving in horizontal and vertical planes. Through this approach the authors cover a wide range of applications, from local to global, with considerable geographical context. - Provides analyses of ocean observations and numerical model simulations, highlighting the pathways and drift associated with ocean currents, around the World Ocean, linked to online exercises for instructors and students that extend this perspective - Presents applications to natural phenomena, showing how ocean currents shape marine ecosystems, helping researchers understand the distribution and adaptation of life in the oceans - Addresses societal challenges, specifically how ocean currents disperse pollutants (e.g. plastic) from coastal sources and how the global ocean circulation is central to our changing climate, helping students and researchers develop an interdisciplinary approach to global environmental change

Wind Stress and Wind Stress Curl Over the California Current

Wind Stress and Wind Stress Curl Over the California Current
Author: Craig S. Nelson
Publisher:
Total Pages: 292
Release: 1976
Genre: California Current
ISBN:

Historical surface marine observations are summarized by 1-degree square area and long term month to describe the seasonal distribution of wind stress over the California Current. Off the coasts of southern California and Baja California, an alongshore equatorward component is present throughout the year. The distributions north of Cape Mendocino are characterized by marked changes in direction and magnitude between summer and winter. The predominant wind stress maximum shifts northward coherently from off Point Conception in March to south of Cape Blanco in September, and extends approximately 500 km in the offshore direction and 1000 km in the alongshore direction. Maximum values of surface wind stress occur during July near Cape Mendocino. The wind stress curl is positive near the coast and negative in the region offshore.

Ecosystems of California

Ecosystems of California
Author: Harold Mooney
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Total Pages: 1008
Release: 2016-01-19
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 0520278801

This long-anticipated reference and sourcebook for CaliforniaÕs remarkable ecological abundance provides an integrated assessment of each major ecosystem typeÑits distribution, structure, function, and management. A comprehensive synthesis of our knowledge about this biologically diverse state, Ecosystems of California covers the state from oceans to mountaintops using multiple lenses: past and present, flora and fauna, aquatic and terrestrial, natural and managed. Each chapter evaluates natural processes for a specific ecosystem, describes drivers of change, and discusses how that ecosystem may be altered in the future. This book also explores the drivers of CaliforniaÕs ecological patterns and the history of the stateÕs various ecosystems, outlining how the challenges of climate change and invasive species and opportunities for regulation and stewardship could potentially affect the stateÕs ecosystems. The text explicitly incorporates both human impacts and conservation and restoration efforts and shows how ecosystems support human well-being. Edited by two esteemed ecosystem ecologists and with overviews by leading experts on each ecosystem, this definitive work will be indispensable for natural resource management and conservation professionals as well as for undergraduate or graduate students of CaliforniaÕs environment and curious naturalists.

Ocean Modeling in an Eddying Regime

Ocean Modeling in an Eddying Regime
Author: Matthew W. Hecht
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 654
Release: 2013-04-30
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1118671996

Published by the American Geophysical Union as part of the Geophysical Monograph Series, Volume 177. This monograph is the first to survey progress in realistic simulation in a strongly eddying regime made possible by recent increases in computational capability. Its contributors comprise the leading researchers in this important and constantly evolving field. Divided into three parts Oceanographic Processes and Regimes: Fundamental Questions Ocean Dynamics and State: From Regional to Global Scale, and Modeling at the Mesoscale: State of the Art and Future Directions The volume details important advances in physical oceanography based on eddy resolving ocean modeling. It captures the state of the art and discusses issues that ocean modelers must consider in order to effectively contribute to advancing current knowledge, from subtleties of the underlying fluid dynamical equations to meaningful comparison with oceanographic observations and leading-edge model development. It summarizes many of the important results which have emerged from ocean modeling in an eddying regime, for those interested broadly in the physical science. More technical topics are intended to address the concerns of those actively working in the field.

California’s Ancient Past

California’s Ancient Past
Author: Jeanne E. Arnold
Publisher: University Press of Colorado
Total Pages: 201
Release: 2010-05-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 164642512X

“California’s Ancient Past is an excellent introduction and overview of the archaeology and ancient peoples of this diverse and dynamic part of North America. Written in a concise and approachable format, the book provides an excellent foundation for students, the general public, and scholars working in other regions around the world. This book will be an important source of information on California’s ancient past for years to come.” —Torben C. Rick, Smithsonian Institution "California's Ancient Past is a well written, highly informative, and thought-provoking book; it will make a significant contribution to California archaeology. It is highly readable—the text and materials covered are suitable for both scholars and interested lay people. The book is well organized...with discussions about the culture history and theoretical perspectives of California archaeology and . . . the latest and most relevant references." —Kent Lightfoot, University of California, Berkeley “With California’s Ancient Past, Arnold and Walsh [offer] a well-written, interesting, and succinct archaeological summary of California from the terminal Pleistocene to historic contact.” —David S. Whitley, Journal of Anthropological Research

The California Naturalist Handbook

The California Naturalist Handbook
Author: Greg de Nevers
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Total Pages: 280
Release: 2013-02-15
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 0520274806

The California Naturalist Handbook provides a fun, science-based introduction to California’s natural history with an emphasis on observation, discovery, communication, stewardship and conservation. It is a hands-on guide to learning about the natural environment of California. Subjects covered include California natural history and geology, native plants and animals, California’s freshwater resources and ecosystems, forest and rangeland resources, conservation biology, and the effects of global warming on California’s natural communities. The Handbook also discusses how to create and use a field notebook, natural resource interpretation, citizen science, and collaborative conservation and serves as the primary text for the California Naturalist Program.