Energy and Mass Flux in the Gulf Stream

Estimates of the kinetic energy and momentum fluxes of the Gulf Stream are obtained from the meridional hydrographic sections taken during the Gulf Stream '60 surveys (Fuglister, 1963). The kinetic energy flux appears to be higher than the input of potential energy by wind stress requiring recy...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Eofonoff,Nicholas P.
Other Authors: WOODS HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTION MA
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: 1982
Subjects:
*Energy transfer
*Mass transfer
Momentum transfer
Kinetic energy
Flow
Component reports
North Atlantic
Online Access:http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADP001045
http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADP001045
Description
Summary:Estimates of the kinetic energy and momentum fluxes of the Gulf Stream are obtained from the meridional hydrographic sections taken during the Gulf Stream '60 surveys (Fuglister, 1963). The kinetic energy flux appears to be higher than the input of potential energy by wind stress requiring recycling of energy in the Worthington recirculation gyre. The momentum flux divergence is sufficiently large to account for a major fraction of the east-west pressure difference in the North Atlantic at Gulf Stream latitudes. The effects of ageostrophic fluxes cannot be ignored in Gulf Stream dynamics. In summary, the kinetic energy and momentum fluxes are sufficiently large that their effects cannot be ignored in describing the dynamical balances of the Gulf Stream. This article is from 'Proceedings of the Workshop on Gulf Stream Structure and Variability Held at Research Triangle Park, North Carolina on 1-2 April 1982,' AD-A128 789.

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