Question

a) What is the zonal extension of Gulf Stream? How deep is Gulf Stream?

b) The geostrophic velocity is non-divergent which means, in particular, that the amount of total flow through the plane perpendicular to the page vanishes. The southward transport in the open ocean region entirely balances the northward flow by the Gulf Stream in the western part of the region.

Explain what the distribution of horizontal geostrophic velocity in this part of the North Atlantic is. Is it cyclonic (counter-clockwise) or anticyclonic (clockwise).

c) The velocity in Gulf Stream can reach values higher than 1m/s. Why is the estimate we obtained in this question smaller than the observations? How do you think can we improve the quality of observations in order to obtain a more realistic estimate.

Answer 1

Please find the attachment.