Mixed Layers and Fronts in Simple Ocean Circulation Models

Abstract

A three-dimensional regime with a differentially heated mixed layer on top of an ideal fluid interior is considered in a situation which corresponds to the interior of the well-known wind-driven model by Stommel (1948). Although the transport field in this case is continuous and simple, the same is not necessarily true for the density and velocity fields: if the mixed layer is weakly coupled to the atmosphere a front is generated at the line of a maximum downwelling; another front is expected at the line of a zero downwelling.