Effects of bottom topography and density stratification on the formation of western boundary currents. I. Wind-driven general circulation model.:Part I: Wind-Driven General Circulation Model

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A wind-driven, general circulation for a two-layer ocean with continental shelfslope along the western boundary is studied numerically. Special attention is focused on the formation process of the western boundary current in the subtropical gyre. The western boundary current develops in the upper layer along the western boundary on the shelf-slope with a bottom trapped poleward flow in the lower layer. The poleward undercurrent is concentrated approximately along the contour lines of the potential vorticity, f/D, where f is the Coriolis parameter andDthe depth of the ocean. The separation of upper-and lowerlayer flows on the shelf-slope represents a typical transient response. As the response approaches a steady state, the poleward undercurrent decreases in amplitude, and the motion tends to be confined to the upper layer. The flow pattern becomes similar to that found in a flat bottom ocean. A steady-state response is expected to be isostatic (no motion in the lower layer), even on the shelf-slope, as conservation of potential vorticity would suggest. The remarkable increase in transport of the western boundary current produced by the formation of an anticyclonic vortex on the shelf-slope extending throughout the hemisphere (HOLLAND, 1973) does not occur in the wind-driven general circulation.
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