Relationships Between the Wind-Field, the Transport-Field and the Mean Mass-Field in a Non-Homogeneous Ocean,
1997
Shtokman, V. B.
The classical theory of the horizontal circulation in a homogeneous ocean, as constructed by V. Ekman suffers from the defect that it considers only the frictional forces acting in horizontal planes. In consequence, once the water on the sea-bottom has acquired a motion, vertical velocity-gradients must be developed just as great as those in the surface layer of the sea. This result does not agree with observed data, which show that the vertical velocity-gradients in a non-homogeneous ocean are rapidly damped out with increasing depth, and at the bottom are to all practical intents and purposes insignificant. This rapid attenuation of the vertical velocity-gradients is a result of intensive horizontal exchange and transfer of motions, setting up, in vertical planes parallel to the horizontal components of flow, large frictional forces which almost entirely counter-balance the tangential stresses due to the wind on the surface of the ocean. Thus the distinctive feature of an established motion in a non-homogeneous ocean is the fact, confirmed by observation, that the frictional forces at the bottom are extremely small in comparison with the stresses set up by the turbulent 'side-friction'. On the basis of these findings, this report presents equations for the components of the steady-state transport in a non-homogeneous ocean.
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