Contents
xiii
5.4 The barotropic vorticity equation
118
5.5 Exercises on chapter 5
123
6. WESTERN INTENSIFICATION
127
6.1 The Sverdrup balance
128
6.2 Continental boundary layers
131
6.2.1 The Munk boundary layer
135
6.2.2 The Stommel boundary layer
137
6.2.3 Physics of the western intensification
140
6.3 The inertial boundary layer
142
6.4 Highly nonlinear flows
144
6.5 Exercises on chapter 6
150
7. FREE WAVES
155
7.1 Small amplitude motions
156
7.2 Free waves: H 0 constant
158
7.2.1 Unbounded domain
158
7.2.2 Zonal channel
160
7.3 Free waves: H 0 = H 0 (y)
164
7.4 Free waves in the quasi-geostrophic model
167
7.5 Exercises on chapter 7
170
8. STRATIFICATION
173
8.1 Rotation versus Stratification
174
8.2 Potential vorticity (again ...)
177
8.3 The stratified quasi-geostrophic model
179
8.3.1 Model formulation
179
8.3.2 Boundary conditions
183
8.4 Free waves
185
8.4.1 Vertical structure functions
185
8.4.2 Properties of Rossby waves
187
8.4.3 Topographic Rossby waves
189
8.5 Exercises on chapter 8
193
9. ADJUSTMENT
197
9.1 The quasi-geostrophic two-layer model
198
9.2 Free waves
201
9.3 Adjustment in a rectangular basin
203
9.3.1 Possible responses
204
9.3.2 The spin-up problem
206
9.4 Exercises on chapter 9
213