Status: this preprint is open for discussion and under review for Ocean Science (OS).
Horizontal transport on the continental shelf driven by periodic rotary wind stress
Nathan Paldorand Lazar Friedland
Abstract. Wind driven circulation on a linearly sloping continental shelf is studied by employing the Lagrangian equations of motion forced by periodic rotary wind stress. The analysis yields explicit approximate expressions for the water column trajectories in the longshore and cross-shore directions, and these expressions are verified by numerical integration of the governing nonlinear equations. The periodic rotary wind stress generates a steady longshore drift directed with land to its left when the wind rotates counterclockwise at sub-inertial frequencies and with land to its right in all other frequencies. Counterclockwise rotation of the wind at the local inertial frequency results in a strong resonance manifested in very fast longshore drift.
Received: 20 Oct 2025 – Discussion started: 30 Oct 2025
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Well written.  It would be good to note that the change in direction of forced wind components at the inertial frequency was observationally verified in Weller (1981)(JGR, vol 86 C3 pages 1969-1977). A suggestion is to make it clear perhaps in lined 10-15 that the fluid is not stratified. Perhaps the abstract should include words noting northern hemisphere and homogenous fluid.  For a coastal oceanographer the normal thinking might be of a surface wind-driven layer overlaying and a bottom boundary layer and the merging of the two as the water shoals.  Any idea how stratification would change the solutions?  and would a bottom boundary layer have a rectified current as well?
The work develops a Lagrangian theory of the transport on the continental shelf forced by periodically rotating wind driven. A strong resonance occurs when the wind stress rotates counterclockwise at the local Coriolis frequency, manifested in a fast longshore drift. For clockwise sub-inertial wind rotation the drift is directed with the coast to its right while in all other frequencies the drift is directed with the coast to its left.
The work develops a Lagrangian theory of the transport on the continental shelf forced by...
Well written.  It would be good to note that the change in direction of forced wind components at the inertial frequency was observationally verified in Weller (1981)(JGR, vol 86 C3 pages 1969-1977). A suggestion is to make it clear perhaps in lined 10-15 that the fluid is not stratified. Perhaps the abstract should include words noting northern hemisphere and homogenous fluid.  For a coastal oceanographer the normal thinking might be of a surface wind-driven layer overlaying and a bottom boundary layer and the merging of the two as the water shoals.  Any idea how stratification would change the solutions?  and would a bottom boundary layer have a rectified current as well?