Rapid spin up and spin down of flow along slopes

Abstract The near-bottom mixing that allows abyssal waters to upwell tilts isopycnals and spins up flow over the flanks of mid-ocean ridges. Meso- large-scale currents along sloping topography are subjected a delicate balance Ekman arrest spin down. These two seemingly disparate oceanographic phenomena share common theory, which is based on one-dimensional model rotating, stratified sloping, insulated boundary. This commonly used model, however, lacks rapid adjustment interior flows, limiting its ability capture full physics down along-slope flow. Motivated by two-dimensional dynamics, present work extends constraining vertically integrated cross-slope transport allowing for barotropic pressure gradient. produces closed secondary circulation forcing in bottom boundary layer return interior. extended can thus physics: turned Coriolis acceleration, leading rather than slow diffusive transport-constrained accurately describes twodimensional mixing-generated an idealized ridge provides unified framework understanding relative importance slope.