A homogeneous model of the Deacon cell in a circumpolar ocean

Dynamics of the three-dimensional structure of the wind-driven Deacon cell in a beta-plane channel are discussed in a homogeneous model in the presenc e of a sufficiently high ridge. The emphasis is on the water mass balance: how the northward surface Ekman drift is returned. It is demonstrated that a sufficiently high ridge can break up the geostrophic constraint and a net geostrophic volume flux across the open latitude band is allowed. It is fo und that: (1) the Deacon cell is a fundamentally three-dimensional structur e, (2) wind forcing can drive an inter-basin water mass exchange in the Sou thern Ocean, and (3) zonal through-channel transport in the circumpolar oce an varies at different longitudes. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All right s reserved.