circulation océanique induite par le vent

CONT: The main principles of wind-driven ocean circulation are as follows. 1. Wind stress causes transport of water in a thin Ekman surface layer. 2. If there is a curl to the wind stress, the Ekman layer transport will converge or diverge, causing downwelling or upwelling. 3. The downwelling or upwelling motions cause fluid columns to squash or stretch vertically, and this causes slow southward or northward flow due to conservation of potential vorticity. 4. The southward or northward flow is determined by the Sverdrup relationship, which links the N-S transport of water with the curl of the wind stress. In order to conserve mass, the water returns to its original position via a relatively thin boundary layer adjacent to the western edge of the basin.