Which mechanism accelerates the Antarctic Circumpolar Current when it encounters Drake Passage's narrow seafloor constriction?

💡 Explanation

When encountering the Drake Passage, the Antarctic Circumpolar Current undergoes geostrophic adjustment because potential vorticity must be conserved as the water column depth decreases, leading to increased current speed along the steeper sea-level gradient. Therefore, geostrophic adjustment results, rather than Ekman transport, upwelling, or advection which depend other atmospheric forcings.

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