Surface currents, the Ekman spiral, and Ekman transport

Wind blowing across the surface of the ocean transfers energy to the water through friction, creating surface currents. The Swedish scientist Walfrid Ekman described the details of this process in 1905.
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[@ultraviolent1395]

The animation made the concept crystal clear. And upwelling and downwelling, explained in simple words. Thanks you so much

[@SciencePrimer]

You're very welcome! Thank you for commenting.

[@akhileshpatel9592]

सर हिंदी में provided हो सकता है क्या 🙏🙏🙏

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[@Tester-lk8om]

Way better explained than my georgraphy professer at my local university, thank you

[@denicamoore3956]

Extremely helpful! Keep it up PLEASE!

[@SciencePrimer]

Glad you found the video helpful!

[@puneetkaushik4793]

Great explanation... by far the best I could find. Keep up the good work

[@SciencePrimer]

Thank you!

[@pigeon-hater2267]

Thank you. You made it super simple to understand

[@1farhinmomtazriana25]

Extremely helpful. Thanks a lot. Please keep making such videos!

[@scottbreukel5518]

Very well explained and animated! The 3D animation using the small watercolumn to show the vectors was something else and the best way of explaining it i've seen so far! You probably helped me pass my exam! Keep up the good work!

[@voquocsi]

Didn't realize that this is not that hard to understand. What a great channel! Thank you so much!

[@DarthPinn]

Such a great explanation, and how brilliant Ekman was to come up with this!

[@nicholasholcomb7400]

This is very greatly appreciated, thank you!

[@namratamohan07]

what a brilliantly explained video. time worth! thank you so much

[@subbarajus4731]

Thank you very much for the video .

[@sarthakwhy]

You made it clear. Thank you

[@Elisifamartin8]

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[@jenniferkarlsson5299]

Thank you for explaining this clearly!

[@SemdeWaard]

This way by far the most clear explenation I found of this subject. Thank you!

[@SciencePrimer]

Glad it was helpful! Thanks for the comment.

[@nebster333]

Great explanation, thank you very much!

[@priyariya1563]

Wow...this is a serene explanation..thanks a lot..

[@deepakvpd9535]

I just learnt ekman spiral, transport, upwelling, downwelling all in under 5 minutes! 🤯 Thank you for the incredibly helpful video! Great job

[@anamikachoudhury6587]

Great explanation. Very neat.

[@garvitdixit5932]

Thank you for creating this. :)

[@manishvishnoi227]

GREAT WAY OF EXPLAING

[@saikumark4342]

Thank you sir....very well explained

[@athinan7289]

I agree to the other comments, so well explained and illustrated, thank you!

[@xlHypno]

Thank you. It could not be more clear.

[@daniellizarbe2591]

Thank you so much, I'm writing my master's thesis on this topic, and your video helped me a lot to understand the upwelling dynamics simply.

[@hoybuloy9438]

Hey man keep on making videos like these! They're extremely helpful and the concepts are very well explained. The animation also really helped a lot. Great work!

[@SciencePrimer]

Glad you like them!

[@true8888]

Well explained.. Thank you so much..

[@rjangid6671]

Fantastically explained 👍👍👍

[@cutecow7493]

So helpful! Thank you

[@gaurav-st7cp]

Awesome video! Thanks :)

[@harithameka8328]

Sir please make videos on svedrup theory, stommel theory and munk theory This video really helps clear all doubts on ekman transport😊

[@ratman9250]

Very Helpful, taught the concept in an easy to understand way, thank you!

[@SciencePrimer]

You're very welcome!

[@mrittikamurmu645]

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[@SciencePrimer]

Great to hear! Thanks for commenting.

[@GlennBLey]

Yes! Love it! Thanks!

[@amberlea1973]

Best explanation I could find.. VERY helpful! Thank you so much!

[@SciencePrimer]

Glad it was helpful!

[@stoophkally]

Yes! Finally! A good Ekman spiral explanation video!!! :)

[@SciencePrimer]

Thank you!

[@jiyuu7895]

This was very helpful!

[@sophieh7934]

Thank you! This was super helpful! You explain it really clearly.

[@SciencePrimer]

Glad it was helpful!

[@katie_22]

This video was so helpful. You managed to explain everything in 4 minutes and the information was crystal clear! THANKS

[@SciencePrimer]

Glad it was helpful! Thanks for commenting.

[@nikhilpranesh2440]

Very good explanation thanks

[@beatrizgutierrez]

The best way to explain Ekman Transport! thank you!

[@SciencePrimer]

Glad it was helpful!

[@imky13]

Can't thank you enough for this wonderful work 👍

[@SciencePrimer]

Glad you enjoy it!

[@bhaskarkumar6423]

Perfectly explained with awasome animation. Thank you

[@SciencePrimer]

Glad you enjoyed it!

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That's really helpful. Thanks :))

[@vanarraja1940]

great explanation dude

[@gowtham0101]

Thank you man, I want to give you a hug

[@sumaiyanoor6778]

Thank you...😊

[@fizamir1124]

Worth watching👍

[@apurbaasengupta486]

Thank you for the incredible animation and explanation!

[@niharranjanmahunt4102]

UPSC

[@potpourri2793]

I can't find words to praise the lucidity and ease with which you have explained the topic. I don't think i will ever be confused about Ekman spiral all my life. Thank you very much.

[@SciencePrimer]

Glad to hear it. Happy new year!

[@litchfirmian7562]

This is very helpful, thank you.

[@SciencePrimer]

Glad it was helpful! thanks for commenting.

[@daphnec4016]

Thank you!!

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Amazing explanation.! Thank you. And keep up this excellent job.👍👍

[@SciencePrimer]

Glad you liked it! Thanks for commenting.

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Excellent explanation. Thank you!

[@SciencePrimer]

Glad it was helpful!

[@GraceXia]

THANK YOU

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PLEASE dont stop... keep em coming!

[@SciencePrimer]

I am glad you like the videos. I've got a few in the works.

[@alekseyvanputte6131]

Thanks for making this understandable, I understood nothing from this subject explained in my university books❤

[@rahuldhania4571]

Thank you very much for this video ..!!

[@SciencePrimer]

You are welcome! Glad you found it helpful!

[@marinapinceladas7486]

Super good explanation! Thanks!

[@SciencePrimer]

Glad it was helpful!

[@salahh9409]

Thank you

[@rickytriple1208]

this video is beautiful and I appreciate it beyond imagine thank you sir

[@SciencePrimer]

Glad you enjoyed it. It is a fun expression of the Coriolis Effect.

[@Pooja-qv6tl]

nicely explained thank you :)

[@paulgunning5466]

Fantastic information, thanks.

[@SciencePrimer]

Glad it was helpful!

[@philtacata8223]

Fantastic video... I've had difficulty teaching these concepts to my high school students (in my Marine Science class) in the past. This year, I showed your video in addition to my "Coastal Upwelling Lecture," and I had a significantly higher number of "nodding heads" and "oh, that's how it works" remarks on Zoom. Thank you for this content!

[@SciencePrimer]

Glad it was helpful! Thanks for the comment.

[@majidzf]

It was perfect. Thank you so much

[@SciencePrimer]

Glad it helped!

[@jayjanedera]

When my struggle to understand this topic made easy by you, thank you sir. Regards

[@SciencePrimer]

Glad you found it helpful. thanks for commenting.

[@martontruszek9464]

Thanks for this video, we learnt it on mechanics (physics), and it became much more understandable!

[@SciencePrimer]

Great to hear!

[@delfinagutierrez3341]

simple and super clear! thank u

[@SciencePrimer]

You're welcome!

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[@SciencePrimer]

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[@himalayanthink4421]

excellent...

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Wonderfully explained!

[@SciencePrimer]

Glad you think so! Thanks for commenting.

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Amazing ❤️

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[@shibarino3705]

thank you bro

[@katherinsegura3663]

Hi thanks ofr the video! Very helpful, I would like to see a video of ekman number.

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[@SciencePrimer]

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easy and short tysm

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[@SciencePrimer]

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[@BapanSarkar880]

Extra ordinary explanation 👍👍

[@SciencePrimer]

Glad you liked it

[@nayandeeptiwari3365]

informative, thanks.

[@SciencePrimer]

You're welcome

[@sandeepsharma-rc7sy]

thank you sir, this is a very well explained video, from India

[@SciencePrimer]

Hello from the US. Glad you found it helpful!

[@prashantverma4219]

So much helpfull thanks

[@SciencePrimer]

Glad it helped

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[@SciencePrimer]

Thank you, we are working on more.

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thankuuuu so much sir.

[@SciencePrimer]

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crystal clear

[@lakshmipriyap8417]

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very helpful

[@SciencePrimer]

Glad you think so!

[@ShivaShiva-hz3ug]

Very nice explain . I'm from India. Thank you sir

[@SciencePrimer]

You are welcome! Glad it was helpful. Thanks for the comment.

[@leoc544]

Great lesson, thank you so much! I have a question I hope you might help. Given the sinking of the North Atlantic surface waters is harrowingly slowing down due to the larger presence of less salty water due to the melting of the polar caps, and the potential effect it may have of breaking the ocean conveyor belt and bring dramatic climatic changes with it, could it be possible that these open ocean downwelling and upwelling regions become the sole sources of deep and surface water exchanges, trapping even more heat along the intertropical region and transporting even less heat to the higher latitudes?

[@JuliusKrebsMusic]

great stuff! only why did you swap north and south when explaining ekman spirals? :)

[@mahavirzala6525]

Thank you sir from India

[@SciencePrimer]

Glad you found it helpful. Thanks for the comment.

[@DarijaWhispers]

Merci

[@pawanpandey4759]

great work & LOL from india...

[@storm4ce638]

One thing I am still wondering about - If the winds cause a diversion of water to the right in the Northern Hemisphere, and to the left in the Southern, wouldn't that go counterintuitive to the Coriolis Effect considering that it would be spinning clockwise in the Northern and vice versa?

[@nikhildixit5941]

Sir I have a question here-why it took spiral shape,why bottom layers of the water deflets more than the upper one?(best explanation though,thank you)

[@SciencePrimer]

Treat the ocean as a layered structure. The energy transfer from the wind to the surface is the first of multiple energy transfers. Each transfer of frictional energy between layers is subject to Coriolis deflection. Consider a wind blowing from the east (towards the west) in the Northern hemisphere. When this wind transfers energy to the top-most water layer, the top layer will begin to move to the right of the wind - towards the southwest. When this top layer - which is moving towards the southwest - transfers energy to the next layer down that next layer will deflect further to the right. More southward in this case. As the energy transfers to deeper layers, each layer deflects further to the right - creating the Ekman spiral.

[@Manishkumar-ij6wl]

Nice explanation...Are u gonna something on Geo Morphology???

[@SciencePrimer]

I do have plans to do something on plate tectonics and ocean basin formation.

[@denbyscott5745]

im a little confused as to why the coriolis effect is acting in the opposite direction to the wind? I can understand it acting 90 degrees clockwise of a north or south-bound wind (Horthern hemisphere) but in no way should it be acting in the opposite direction to the wind unless you have a south-bound wind across equatorial water? Unfortunately I've only noticed i don't understand this part the day before an exam so hopefully it doesn't effect my answer, but id love to have someone clarify this for the sake of improving my understanding. Thanks