Abstract
An analysis is presented of the Munk-Anderson equations which describe the formation of the ocean thermocline in terms of a dependence of vertical eddy diffusivity on gradient Richardson number. It is shown that the structure of the model solutions is controlled by a maximum in the function relating heat flux to Richardson number. This introduces negative differential diffusivity, which creates an instability in the Richardson number vertical profile, which is responsible for the generation of the model thermocline. It also accounts for the original problem encountered by Munk and Anderson that the deep water boundary condition cannot be satisfied by the Ekman equation.
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