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On zonal jets in oceans
Author(s) -
Nadiga Balasubramanya T.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2006gl025865
Subject(s) - rossby wave , energy cascade , context (archaeology) , turbulence , physics , zonal and meridional , geophysics , cascade , rossby number , jovian , geology , atmospheric sciences , mechanics , astrophysics , planet , paleontology , chemistry , chromatography , saturn
We find that in parameter regimes relevant to the recently observed alternating zonal jets in oceans, the formation of these jets can be explained as due to an arrest of the turbulent inverse‐cascade of energy by free Rossby waves (as opposed to Rossby basin modes) and a subsequent redirection of that energy into zonal modes. This mechanism, originally studied in the context of alternating jets in Jovian atmospheres and two dimensional turbulence in zonally‐periodic configurations survives in spite of the presence of the meridional boundaries in the oceanic context.