ON THE OBSCURANTIST PHYSICS OF FORM DRAG IN THEORIZING ABOUT THE CIRCUMPOLAR CURRENT

The authors point out that, since the ''form-drag'' force balance comm only advanced for the Antarctic Circumpolar Current is really just a s tatement that northward Ekman transport in the circumpolar Drake Passa ge zone is compensated by deep southward geostrophic flow, the balance is actually irrelevant to the magnitude of the current itself. It is thus misleading to ascribe a role to form drag in its physics. Sverdru p dynamics seems to offer a more promising analysis of the real Circum polar Current-as proposed long ago.