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Nansen observes ice drifting to the right of the wind

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During the drift of the Fram across the Arctic basin, Fridtjof Nansen recorded that surface ice moved consistently at 20 to 40 degrees to the right of the wind rather than downwind. He had no theory for it and asked a young Swedish physicist to find one. The observation is the empirical root of the entire theory of wind-driven ocean circulation.

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Assembled narrative · 1

Assembled from 14 blocks · 1 evidence · 12 related

  1. Story
  2. During the drift of the Fram across the Arctic basin, Fridtjof Nansen recorded that surface ice moved consistently at 20 to 40 degrees to the right of the wind rather than downwind. He had no theory for it and asked a young Swedish physicist to find one. The observation is the empirical root of the entire theory of wind-driven ocean circulation.
  3. Knowledge
  4. Ekman Transport and the Ekman Spiral
  5. Nansen observes ice drifting to the right of the wind
  6. Connections
  7. Ekman Transport and the Ekman Spiral
  8. North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre
  9. Coastal and Equatorial Upwelling
  10. Vagn Walfrid Ekman
  11. Nansen observes ice drifting to the right of the wind
  12. Ekman publishes the theory of wind-driven surface transport
  13. Evidence
  14. Wind stress transmitted downward through a rotating ocean produces a velocity spiral with depth and a net transport at right angles to the wind, explaining Nansen's Fram observation that Arctic ice drifts 20–40 degrees to the right of the wind. The exact issue and page range were not confirmed and the paper was not consulted; the account here rests on biographical and teaching sources.
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/atlas?object=EVT_NANSEN_FRAM_ICE_DRIFT&experience=EVT_NANSEN_FRAM_ICE_DRIFT