Mean flow generated by circulation on a β-plane: An analogy with the moving flame experiment

Abstract

A number of laboratory experiments are described in which water with a curved upper surface in a rotating basin exhibited prograde flows when stirred by stirrers which put no azimuthal torque upon the fluid. It is suggested that the flows were generated by Reynolds stresses of the circulating fluid, and that this is a general consequence of circulations on a β-plane. This is reinforced by an analogy between the equations of the moving flame experiment and the equations of flow on a β-plane. Implications upon atmospheric and oceanic flows are mentioned.