'Descriptive Physical Oceanography: An Introduction' 5th edition provides an introduction to descriptive (synoptic) physical oceanography for science undergraduates and early graduate students. There has been an updating of topics such as the heat budget, instruments (particularly the use of satellites), a complete revision of the material on equatorial oceanography, sea-ice physics and distribution and El Nino and information has been added on thermohaline circulation, mixing nad coral reef oceanography.