Abstract
Abstract A numerical study is made of the dynamics of the circulation that arises from forcing by a steady, uniform alongshore wind over a uniform zonal shelf in the Southern Hemisphere. The results show that most of the upwelling is confined to the region inshore of the shelf break. Over the slope and within the region of wind forcing the circulation is found to be dominated by the growth of both an anticyclonic and a cyclonic eddy, an offshore flow, and downwelling. Two new mechanisms are identified as being responsible for these features of the upwelling circulation. First, the offshore advection of alongshore momentum (ρ0uυx) within the surface mixed layer (SML) is shown to accelerate the alongshore current near the eastern end of the region of wind forcing, leading to a sharpening of the cross-shelf gradient of sea level and an excess in the alongshore transport. This excess transport acts to raise sea level, leads to downwelling below the base of the SML, and causes the growth of the anticyclonic ed...
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