DEFINITION OF COASTAL UPWELLING

Caused by surface winds that blow parallel

to the coast, forming ocean surface movements at 90° to

the direction of surface winds in Ekman spirals. In many

cases, the upper few tens of meters of surface waters move

away from the shoreline forcing a corresponding upwelling of

water from depth to replace the water that has moved offshore.

This is known as coastal upwelling. Upwelling is most

common on the eastern sides of ocean basins where the surface

layer is thin and near capes and other irregularities in the

coastline. Upwelling also occurs away from the coasts along

the equator, where surface waters diverge because of the

change in sign of the Coriolis force across the equator. Water

from depth upwells to replace the displaced surface water.

Zones of coastal and other upwelling, where the water

comes from more than 325 feet (100 m) depth, are typically

very productive organically, with abundant marine organisms,

including plants and fish. This is because upwelling

coastal waters are rich in nutrients that suddenly become

available to benthic and planktonic photic zone organisms.

See also COASTAL DOWNWELLING; EKMAN SPIRALS; OCEAN

CURRENTS; OCEANOGRAPHY.

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