Eddy saturation and eddy compensation are phenomena found in the Southern Ocean. Both are limiting processes where eddy activity increases due to the momentum of strong westerlies, and hence do not enhance their respective mean currents. Where eddy saturations impacts the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), eddy compensation influences the associated Meridional Overturning Circulation (MOC).
In recent decades wind stresses in the Southern Ocean have increased partly due to greenhouse gases and ozone depletion in the stratosphere. Because the ACC and MOC play an important role in the global climate; affecting the stratification of the ocean, uptake of heat, carbon dioxide and other passive tracers. Addressing how these increased zonal winds affect the MOC and the ACC will help understand whether the uptakes will change in the future, which could have serious impact on the carbon cycle. This remains an important and critical research topic.