Published online by Cambridge University Press: 29 March 2006
The linear theory of rotating stratified fluids is applied to describe the steady axisymmetric motion of a stratified fluid in a rotating annulus for values of the stratification parameter $\overline{S} = \sigma N^2/(2\Omega)^2$ that are order one or larger: $\overline{S} \geqslant O(1)$. The motion is mechanically driven by either an applied velocity or by an applied stress at the top surface. The side walls are thermally insulated. Primary attention is given to a study of the meridional, or upwelling circulation. Simple analytical solutions are obtained with the aid of the narrow-gap approximation and a justifiable assumption of an infinite depth. In that case the meridional circulation is confined to a surface Ekman layer and to a Lineykin layer of thick-ness of $O(\overline{S}^{-\frac{1}{2}})$. It is shown how the solutions for the stress-driven upwelling flow in the annulus apply to a two-dimensional linear model of coastal upwelling in a stratified ocean.