Ekman transport

Ekman transport is the net movement of ocean surface water produced by the balance between wind-driven surface currents and the Coriolis force. Wind blowing across the sea surface creates a current that is deflected roughly 90 degrees from the wind's own direction, veering clockwise from the wind in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere. Where this transport causes surface water to diverge, deeper, nutrient-rich water rises to replace it in a process called Ekman suction, supporting biological productivity and fisheries, while convergence drives warm, nutrient-poor surface water downward in Ekman pumping, reducing it. The Swedish oceanographer Vagn Walfrid Ekman developed the theory in 1902 to explain Fridtjof Nansen's observation that Arctic ice drifted at an angle to the prevailing wind. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/