Satellite measurements reveal the distribution of ozone column abundance to be complex and highly dynamic, with fluctuations as large as 100% common in both hemispheres. Observations of total ozone from Nimbus 7 total ozone mapping spectrometer (TOMS) together with contemporaneous analyses of the circulation are used to investigate the origin of these fluctuations. A large component of total ozone variability is explained by quasi-columnar motion of air along isentropic surfaces in the lower stratosphere. The vertical component of such motion introduces anomalous column abundance through compression and expansion, which alters the ozone number density of individual bodies of air. This process leads to a high correlation between the total ozone and the elevation of isentropic surfaces in the lower stratosphere. The horizontal component of column-averaged motion introduces anomalous total ozone by rearranging the distribution of column-averaged ozone mixing ratio, which can be derived from TOMS measurements and contemporaneous isentropic analyses. Quasi-conserved, column-averaged ozone mixing ratio is well correlated with equivalent barotropic potential velocity, which is a tracer of column-averaged motion. In fact, anomalies of column-averaged mixing ratio created during major warmings can be tracked intact and coincident with companion anomalies in the circulation for as long as 3 weeks. Because it follows from observations of tracer behavior, column-averaged ozone mixing ratio may provide a more detailed picture of air motions in the lower stratosphere than is possible from potential vorticity, which must be derived largely from temperature observations. Together with contemporaneous cloud imagery, TOMS observations also reveal interactions with tropospheric convection, which result in a loss and, ultimately, the destruction of stratospheric ozone. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1993