An interactive Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Textbook Notation

Part 6 — Turbulence & Circulation

From an unstable jet to the general circulation. Geostrophic turbulence cascades energy upscale into coherent vortices and, on a rotating planet, zonal jets; the same eddies set an effective diffusivity for any tracer they stir. Closes with the large-scale response to steady forcing: wind-driven gyres and their western boundary currents, and buoyancy-driven overturning circulation.

  1. Ch 18. Geostrophic (2D) turbulence
  2. Ch 19. Eddy transport & mixing
  3. Ch 20. Wind-driven ocean circulation
  4. Ch 21. Buoyancy-driven / overturning circulation