Sverdrup
92923
204835775
2008-04-11T02:20:16Z
Naturrien
847123
Oceanic heat transport is only about half the reason behind Europe's mild climate -- the atmosphere actually is a large contributor to this effect.
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The '''sverdrup''', named in honour of the pioneering oceanographer [[Harald Sverdrup]], is a [[unit of measure]] of [[volume]] transport. It is used almost exclusively in [[oceanography]], to measure the transport of [[ocean current]]s. Its symbol is '''Sv'''. Note that the sverdrup is ''not'' an [[SI]] unit, and that its symbol conflicts with the [[sievert]]'s. It is equivalent to 10<sup>6</sup> [[cubic meter]]s per second (0.001 [[cubic kilometre|km³]]/s, or about 264 million U.S. gallons per second).
Recent studies suggest that the water transport in the [[Gulf Stream]] steadily increases from 30 Sv in the [[Florida Current]] to a maximum of 150 Sv at 55°W [[longitude]]. The entire global input of fresh water from rivers to the ocean is equal to about 1 sverdrup.
The heat carried within this large volume is partially responsible for the mild climate of north-western Europe (atmospheric heat transport is the other cause of Europe's relatively mild climate; it accounts for roughly half of the effect).
To put these numbers in further perspective, the average [[bathtub]] holds about 180 liters (0.180 m<sup>3</sup>, 50 U.S. gal). So 1 sverdrup has a flow of about 5 million bathtubs per second and the [[Gulf Stream]]'s maximum flow is close to 800 million bathtubs per second.
[[Category:Oceanography]]
[[Category:Units of flow]]
[[Category:Non-SI metric units]]
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[[de:Sverdrup (Einheit)]]
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[[ja:スベルドラップ]]
[[nn:Eininga sverdrup]]
[[pl:Sv (oceanografia)]]
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