Model time0 d

Ocean Circulation

Time speed

Presets

Controls

Wind-stress strength τ₀ Planetary vorticity gradient β Bottom friction r (Stommel) Eddy viscosity ν (Munk) Basin width L

Wind pattern Show

Layers Tracer particles Streamlines Wind arrows Labels

Diagnostics

Gyre transport–

Peak current–

Boundary-layer width–

Eddy energy share–

Stommel δ = r/β–

Munk δ = (ν/β)^⅓–

Transport across the gyre

Streamfunction ψ along the latitude of the strongest gyre. The dashed line is the frictionless Sverdrup interior solution; the real solution must return all that transport in a narrow jet on the western side.

Idealised, physics-based teaching models: qualitative behaviour is faithful; numbers are scaled for clarity, not for forecasting.