Wind-powered circulation

As the wind-driven circulation is called stationary ocean currents in the upper area of the oceans that act to 2000 meters depth.

A distinction is made between different phenomena and models. These include

• the Langmuir circulation ( Irving Langmuir , 1938) as well
• the Ekman transport and the corkscrew flow , which were described in analytical work by Vagn Walfrid Ekman and Harald Ulrik Sverdrup .

Refined models come from Henry Stommel ( Sverdrup equation with ground friction ) and Walter Munk (Sverdrup equation with horizontal friction or momentum flow ).

Numerical models are also used to investigate the influence of wind-driven circulation on the climate , ecosystems and the composition of seawater .