Why strong currents concentrate in the west
After graduating from Yale in 1942, Stommel joined WHOI in 1944. His 1948 simplified basin model showed how the latitude dependence of Earth’s Coriolis effect produces narrow, intensified western boundary currents in wind-driven circulation, helping explain the Gulf Stream.
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Connecting deep circulation
With Arnold Arons he developed models relating local sinking to broad abyssal flow. Float observations and other seagoing measurements tested the theoretical picture rather than inferring the entire ocean from surface currents.
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Temperature, salinity and velocity
He continued investigating thermocline structure. His beta-spiral method with Fritz Schott addressed the difficulty of determining absolute velocity from temperature and salinity alone, combining observational constraints with dynamics.
References: [1]