![]() ![]() To collect the data, he invented devices that could be lowered to the appropriate depth and then activated from the surface. His theories relied on having accurate measurements of aquatic phenomena at various depths. He was more than just a theoretician-he excelled at field work as well. He went on to develop full theoretical analyses of wind-blown ocean currents.īut his work as an experimental scientist is what has made him a common name among freshwater biologists. The phenomenon, which he explained in a 1905 paper, is called the Ekman Spiral in his honor. He expanded his work with icebergs into a more general treatment of the movement of water at various depths in the ocean, noting and explaining the deflection of currents again as a balance of wind, friction and Coriolis forces. He determined the cause of so-called “dead water” in Scandinavian fjords was the resistance of cold water layers from melting glaciers on the surface of the ocean. His understanding of the detailed movements of ocean waters led him to several other discoveries. It explained why icebergs moved off in one direction in the northern hemisphere and the opposite in the southern hemisphere. Presented with this unsolved dilemma, Ekman performed a theoretical analysis that proved an iceberg’s path was the combination of wind, friction of moving water layers and the Coriolis force of the earth’s rotation. Rather than moving in the direction of the prevailing wind, icebergs moved off at an angle. While still a student, he learned about a peculiar behavior of floating icebergs. Oceanography became his life’s work, most of which was performed while he was a professor at the University of Lund in Sweden. Ekman went to the University of Uppsala to study physics, but ocean science must have been in his DNA-he quickly switched to oceanography. ![]() If you have ever taken a water or bottom sample in a freshwater lake, you owe your success to Vagn Walfrid Ekman, the namesake for the Ekman Water Bottle and Ekman Dredge.Įkman was born on May 3, 1874, the son of a Swedish oceanographer. ![]()
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