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2011•Journal of Physical OceanographyRequires access

On the Vanishing of the Interfacial Ekman Layer

Achim Wirth

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Abstract

Abstract It is shown that an interfacial Ekman layer between two water masses of different density vanishes in time for all Prandtl number 0 < Pr < ∞, demonstrating that an interfacial Ekman layer is a transient phenomena and the interface broadens in a way approaching geostrophy. For Pr = 0, undamped inertial oscillations spread away from the interface, and the case Pr = ∞ represents the classical Ekman layer.

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What this paper is about

Abstract It is shown that an interfacial Ekman layer between two water masses of different density vanishes in time for all Prandtl number 0 < Pr < ∞, demonstrating that an interfacial Ekman layer is a transient phenomena and the interface broadens in a way approaching geostrophy. For Pr = 0, undamped inertial oscillations spread away from the interface, and the case Pr = ∞ represents the classical Ekman layer.

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Available abstract

Abstract It is shown that an interfacial Ekman layer between two water masses of different density vanishes in time for all Prandtl number 0 < Pr < ∞, demonstrating that an interfacial Ekman layer is a transient phenomena and the interface broadens in a way approaching geostrophy. For Pr = 0, undamped inertial oscillations spread away from the interface, and the case Pr = ∞ represents the classical Ekman layer.

Key concepts: Ekman layer, Ekman transport, Ekman number, Prandtl number, Inertial wave, Physics, Ocean dynamics, Mixed layer

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