Discussion
In the Ekman flow limit, directions of ocean surface current and the geostrophic wind are
Answer: A
In the Ekman limit the two directions are the same.
Two Ekman layers act in turn (Northern Hemisphere). In the atmospheric boundary layer, friction slows the wind and the pressure gradient turns it, so in the Ekman limit the surface wind blows 45° to the left of the geostrophic wind above. In the ocean's surface Ekman layer, the wind stress drives a surface current 45° to the right of the surface wind.
The two 45° turns cancel, so the ocean surface current flows parallel to, and in the same direction as, the geostrophic wind. The options with a single 45° turn count only one of the two layers, and 'exactly opposite' has no basis.
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