We show that the movement of a time-dependent gravity water flow with constant non-zero vorticity and continuously depth dependent density satisfying the three-dimensional water wave equations is essentially two-dimensional: the velocity field, the pressure and the free surface do not change in the direction orthogonal to the direction of propagation. Our result is true both for the inviscid as well as for the viscous water wave problem.

We present here exact solutions to the equations of geophysical fluid dynamics that depict inviscid flows moving in the azimuthal direction on a circular path, around the globe, and which admit a velocity profile below the surface and along it. These features render this model suitable for the description of the Antarctic circumpolar current (ACC). The governing equations we work with–taken to be the Euler equations written in spherical coordinates–also incorporate forcing terms which are generally regarded as means that ensure the general balance of the ACC. Our approach allows for a variable density (depending on the depth and latitude) of discontinuous type which divides the water domain into two layers. Thus, the discontinuity gives rise to an interface. The velocity in both layers and the pressure in the lower layer are determined explicitly, while the pressure in the upper layer depends on the free surface and the interface. Functional analytical techniques render (uniquely) the surface and interface-defining functions in an implicit way. We conclude our discussion by deriving relations between the monotonicity of the surface pressure and the monotonicity of the surface distortion that concur with the physical expectations. A regularity result concerning the interface is also derived.