Fridtjof Nansen noticed that ice on the northern seas
travels at an angle to the direction of the wind.
Vagn Walfrid Ekman found this is due to the Coriolis effect,
the ice being pushed against the wind by water at the surface,
which, in the northern hemisphere,
moves ninety degrees clockwise to the wind.
Ekman spiral
Under a block of sea ice,
where turbulence is calmed,
each layer of water pushed by the wind
and deflected by the Coriolis effect
in turn deflects the layer under it,
resulting in a descending spiral
that tapers to nothing
three hundred feet below the surface.
Coastal upwelling
Every molecule in the ocean
dances with its partners in loose companies.
Where one turns along a shore
another rises to take its place.
Balance of forces
Stokes drift
Coriolis effect
Water viscosity
Wind resistance
If a balance of forces
doesn’t magically result
in a unified flow,
energy is dissipated
in turbulence.
Yet sometimes
off we go
northeast.
Vagn Walfrid Ekman established the principle known as the Ekman spiral
based on data that Fridtjof Nansen gave him from the Fram expedition
of 1893-1895.
Vagn Walfrid Ekman established the principle known as the Ekman spiral based on data that Fridtjof Nansen gave him from the Fram expedition of 1893-1895.
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