Ocean Interiors and Coastal Upwelling Models

Abstract

The constraints imposed upon a coastal upwelling zone by the steady-state wind-driven dynamics of the interior of an ocean basin are examined. A parameter is found which measures the strength of the bottom boundary layer in the interior. Oceanic conditions correspond to small values of this parameter and, thus, the bottom boundary layer is weak. For these conditions the meridional mass flux can be prescribed at the boundary of the interior in terms of local variables. The zonal mass flux is developed for a meridional eastern boundary. A mean meridional pressure gradient is shown to be impressed on the eastern boundary upwelling region by the interior dynamics. Restrictions imposed upon the upwelling region motion by the assumption of an f-plane and a two-dimensional interior are discussed.