9503895 A study of key aspects of the hydrodynamics and thermodynamics of the large scale ocean circulation will be conducted in the theoretical framework provided by the flux form of the potential vorticity (PV) equation and the associated theorems of 'invertibility' and 'impermeability'. The geographical distribution of PV and PV flux lines will be mapped, to the extent that models and climatological data allow it, and the resulting patterns studied and interpreted. Using a hierarchy of models and theory, the physics of, and the global connections between, the 'entry' and 'exit' points of potential vorticity will be exposed and their dependence on the interplay of mechanical and thermodynamical forcing at the boundary of the ocean elucidated.
