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Systematic forcing of large-scale geophysical flows by eddy-topography interaction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 April 2006

Greg Holloway
Greg Holloway
Affiliation:
Institute of Ocean Sciences, Sidney, BC, Canada, V8L 4B2
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Abstract

The interaction of eddies with variations in topography, together with a tendency for large-scale wave propagation, generates a systematic stress which acts upon large-scale mean flows. This stress resists the midlatitude tropospheric westerlies, resists the oceanic Antarctic Circumpolar Current, and may be a dominant mechanism in driving coastal undercurrents. Associated secondary circulation provides a systematic upwelling in coastal oceans, pumping deeper water onto continental shelf areas. The derivation rests in turbulence closure theory and is supported by numerical experiments.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 184 , November 1987 , pp. 463 - 476
Copyright
© 1987 Cambridge University Press

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