Summary
From numerical solutions of a wind-driven homogeneous ocean model, anegative lateral eddy viscosity of the order 104 cm2 sec−1 is inferred from the large-scale time-dependent currents in the interior of an enclosed shallow basin. The transient Rossby waves in this region produce a systematic convergence of eddy momentum at the latitude of the maximum average eastward current, and thus effect a transfer of zonal momentum from the large-scale eddies to the mean flow. In this sense they are analogous to the Rossby waves in the atmospheric general circulation, and it is speculated that such waves may help to maintain the mean zonal ocean currents. Although this negative viscosity induced by the large-scale transients is relatively small compared with the prescribed lateral viscosity of 108 cm2 sec−1 and should be given a quite different physical interpretation, it is evidently an important viscous effect for the mean flow in the interior of the basin. The prescribed viscosity, on the other hand, is effective in controlling the model's simulated sub-grid scale dissipation, which occurs almost entirely in the nearby steady boundary currents.
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Gates, W.L. On the reynolds stress and lateral eddy viscosity due to transient oceanic Rossby waves. PAGEOPH 96, 217–227 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00875644
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00875644