Abstract
Abstract In contrast with the traditional view of midlatitude circulation driven by winds in the ocean interior and regulated by friction along the western boundary, it is hypothesized that some control can be attributed to surface cooling acting primarily in a recirculation region off the western boundary current. Several arguments suggests that this mechanism and the generation of eddies are the two major reactions of the midlatitude ocean under the action of the surface winds. The theory is best described by tracing the journey of a water parcel around the Subtropical Gyre. In the interior, the anticyclonic wind-stress pattern acts to decrease the parcel's potential vorticity (PV). In reaction, the parcel first migrates south, where the planetary vorticity is less, then veers westward and participates in a western boundary jet, where the relative vorticity is less. Instead of calling upon friction within the jet, it is not difficult to conceive that PV restoration can be achieved by diabatic processes ...
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