Mathematical Study of Degenerate Boundary Layers : A Large Scale Ocean Circulation Problem

This paper is concerned with a complete asymptotic analysis as $E \to 0$ of the Munk equation $\partial _x\psi -E \Delta ^2 \psi = \tau $ in a domain $\Omega \subset \mathbf R^2$, supplemented with boundary conditions for $\psi $ and $\partial _n \psi $. This equation is a simple model for the circulation of currents in closed basins, the variables $x$ and $y$ being respectively the longitude and the latitude. A crude analysis shows that as $E \to 0$, the weak limit of $\psi $ satisfies the so-called Sverdrup transport equation inside the domain, namely $\partial _x \psi ^0=\tau $, while boundary layers appear in the vicinity of the boundary.