Anomalous Ekman Transport Near Kerguelen Island
2012
In this study we use data from 8 velocity profiling floats
to examine the wind driven response of the surface layer
of the Southern Ocean north of the Kerguelen Plateau
during 2008. Assuming a constant geostrophic velocity within the
upper 200m of the ocean we have identified Ekman-like
spirals in 249 profiles and in the mean profile.
Considering constant geostrophic shear this figure
increased to 455 Ekman spirals. Mean Ekman transport was found to be skewed towards
the wind, lying at 45° rather than 90° to the left of the
wind as expected from steady-state Ekman theory for the
Southern Hemisphere.
This downwind transport anomaly was found to display
little sensitivity to the presence of geostrophic shear or
transient wind forcing. We suggest that the anomaly
results from the „compression‟ observed in the mean
spiral, possibly associated with ocean density
stratification.
Keywords:
- Correction
- Source
- Cite
- Save
- Machine Reading By IdeaReader
10
References
0
Citations
NaN
KQI