Last Update: 4 November Part II

UPWELLING and DOWNWELLING

2017 F.T.- 22
(The transport of deeper water to shallow levels and vice versa)

Since the wind varies from place to place, so does the Ekman transport, forming convergence and
divergence zones of surface water. A region of convergence forces surface water downward in a process
called downwelling, while a region of divergence draws water from below into the surface Ekman layer in a
process known as upwelling.

Upwelling and downwelling also occur where the wind blows parallel to a coastline. The principal
upwelling regions of the world are along the eastern boundary of the subtropical ocean waters, as, for
example, the coastal region of Peru and northwestern Africa and west coast of India.

Upwelling in these regions cools the surface water and brings nutrient-rich subsurface water into the
sunlit layer of the ocean, resulting in a biologically productive region. Upwelling and high productivity also
are found along divergence zones at the equator and around Antarctica. Nutrient-rich water rises from
deeper levels to replace the surface water that has drifted away and these nutrients are responsible for
supporting the large fish population commonly found in these areas. The effectiveness of upwelling and its
ability to support abundant sea life is greatly dependent
upon the depth of the thermocline. While the primary
downwelling regions are in the subtropical ocean
waterse.g., the Sargasso Sea in the North Atlantic.
Such areas are devoid of nutrients and are poor in marine
life.

Fig1 Due to Ekman transport, coast-parallel winds

drives the surface layer of water almost directly offshore.
Removing the surface layer causes deeper water, usually
colder and more nutrient-rich, to upwell along the coast.

Because of the frictional stresses that exist between ocean layers, surface water is transported at a 90
degree angle to the left of the winds in the southern hemisphere, 90 degrees to the right of the winds in the
northern hemisphere. The vertical movements of ocean waters into or out of the base of the Ekman layer
amount to less than one metre per day, but they are important since they extend the wind-driven effects into
deeper waters. Within an upwelling region, the water column below the Ekman layer is drawn upward. This
process, with conservation of angular momentum on the rotating Earth, induces the water column to drift
toward the poles. This is why winds blowing northward parallel to the coastline "drag" surface water
westward away from shore.

Conversely, downwelling forces water into the water column below the Ekman layer, inducing drift
toward the equator. An additional consequence of upwelling and downwelling for stratified waters is to
create a baroclinic field of mass (see above). Surface water is less dense than deeper water. Ekman
convergences have the effect of accumulating less dense surface water. This water floats above the
surrounding water, forming a hill in sea level and driving an anticyclonic geostrophic current that extends
well below the Ekman layer. Divergences do the opposite; they remove the less dense surface water,
replacing it with denser, deeper water. This induces a depression in sea level with a cyclonic geostrophic
current.

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Role of thermocline in upwelling
The thermocline is the transition layer between the mixed layer at the surface and the deep water
layer. The definitions of these layers are based on temperature.

The mixed layer is near the surface where the temperature is roughly that
of surface water. In the thermocline, the temperature decreases rapidly
from the mixed layer temperature to the much colder deep water
temperature.

The mixed layer and the deep water layer are relatively uniform in
temperature, while the thermocline represents the transition zone between
the two.

A deeper thermocline (often observed during El Nio years) limits the

amount of nutrients brought to shallower depths by upwelling processes
(fig. 2), greatly impacting the year's fish crop.

It may be an exaggeration to say that the Coriolis force is negligibly small

near the equator. The upwelling of colder ocean water at the equator is an
example of a situation where the Coriolis force, although small, is
important.

Imagine a steady easterly wind along the equator (fig 3). Since the Ekman transport is to the left of the wind
in the south, and to the right in the north, this wind induces a perpendicular flow of water away from the
equator, in both hemispheres.

The divergent flows of near-surface water create a parting along the equator, like one combed on the head.
The consequent upwelling from depths where temperatures are low produces a line of cooler sea surface at
the equator. The lower SST (Sea surface temperature) induces two thermally direct atmospheric circulation
cells, one in each hemisphere, with subsidence and suppressed convection at the equator, and uplift and
enhanced convection (the ITCZ) a few degrees poleward. These small cells are opposite to the much larger
Hadley cells.

This idealized picture is rarely present because the surface easterly winds may not be strong enough, or
because of the presence of continents. It is best established in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific,
especially during La Nia years. At this time, a strong easterly Trade wind blows, and low SSTs prevail
along the equator. The ITCZ is best established at 5 N. The southern ITCZ is weaker and only present west
of the dateline, because of the widespread low SST off South
America, due to the Humboldt current.

Fig 3. Ekman pumping along the equator. (a) shows a plan view
of the prevailing surface wind and resulting water transport in
the ocean's Ekman layer. (b) is a corresponding cross section,
showing the upwelling and resulting SST anomalies.

Ekman pumping is also important along coasts from the equator,

Ekman pumping also occurs in open ocean areas where the
surface wind has cyclonic shear. Such shear exists, for instance,
just poleward of the belt of strongest westerly winds.

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