continental-shelf waves

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continental-shelf waves Vorticity waves that are produced in a continental-shelf area where there is a sea-bed slope. In the northern hemisphere, if a water column is displaced into shallower water it develops negative relative vorticity or anticyclonic motion; if displaced into deeper water it will develop positive relative vorticity or cyclonic motion. The net result is for shelf waves to progress in a poleward direction along the west coasts of continents, or towards the equator along east coasts.

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