In coastal waters Ekman transportcan produce extremely intense upwelling.In some places, mainly the eastern sidesof the ocean basins, prevailing windsblow parallel to the coast so that Ekmantransport carries the surface layer off-shore. Cold deep water moves up to re-place it (Fig. 15.30), producing intense
coastal upwelling.
Coastal upwellingcarries huge amounts of nutrients into the photic zone, and major coastal up- welling areas (Fig. 15.31) are among themost productive waters of the epipelagic(Fig. 15.25). These coastal areas aretherefore among the sea’s richest fishinggrounds (see Fig. 17.4)