Preface and Abstract 



The main important difference between the dynamics of the 

 atmosphere and of the oceans is concerned with the driving forces. 

 The atmospheric circulation may essentially be compared with a 

 thermodynamic engine driven by the temperature differences between 

 low and high latitudes on the rotating earth, and this circulation 

 is to some degree modified by the land and water distribution and 

 by oceanographical conditions at the sea surface. 



In the oceans, the temperature (and salinity) differences be- 

 tween the equator and the poles play only a minor role as long as 

 they are considered as a cause of the significant water movements 

 in the upper layers of the sea. The ocean currents are generated 

 and maintained chiefly by the driving forces of the wind. The 

 "thermodynamic engine" (including the M halinodynamic") is relatively 

 insignificant in the oceans, at least in the upper layers, where 

 currents with measurable velocities occur. Weak thermo-haline cir- 

 culations, however, will dominate in the deeper strata of the 

 oceans beneath a layer which will be called the "layer of no motion" 

 for the wind induced ocean circulation in this and the following 

 reports. 



This report deals only with the wind driven ocean circulation. 

 The temperature and salinity structure is considered only as far 

 as the density stratification is involved in the final development 

 of the wind driven current systems. This density stratification 

 is — beyond the minor influence of "density currents" — very important, 



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