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In latitudes where there are continents, winds blowing on light surface water can simply pile up light water against these continents.
But in the Southern Ocean, the momentum imparted to the surface waters cannot be offset in this way.
Different theories of the Circumpolar Current balance the momentum imparted by the winds in different ways.
The increasing eastward momentum imparted by the winds causes water parcels to drift outwards from the axis of the Earth's rotation ( in other words, northward ) as a result of the Coriolis force.
This northward Ekman transport is balanced by a southward, pressure-driven flow below the depths of the major ridge systems.
Some theories connect these flows directly, implying that there is significant upwelling of dense deep waters within the Southern Ocean, transformation of these waters into light surface waters, and a transformation of waters in the opposite direction to the north.
Such theories link the magnitude of the Circumpolar Current with the global thermohaline circulation, particularly the properties of the North Atlantic.

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