  Wind-driven flow in power-law viscous fluids in homogeneous semienclosed
basins is analyzed. Analytical solutions for vertical current profiles for
non-newtonian fluids with different power-law indexes are derived assuming a
wind shear stress at the surface and zero net transport. Previous classical
solutions for wind-driven flows in semienclosed basins are thus generalized. A
bidirectional flow in the fluid column is obtained: downwind near the surface
and a weaker compensating upwind flow near the bottom. Shear-thickening fluids
exhibit larger maximum currents at the surface, although reducing the
difference between the maximum current at the surface and the maximum current
near the bottom, than newtonian and shear-thinning fluids. The larger the flow
behavior index n of the power-law, the more acute the effects. For the same
physical conditions (depth, wind shear stress, and flow consistency index), the
opposite occurs for shear-thinning fluids. The lower the n value the lower the
current at the surface and the larger the differences between the upper and
lower layer.
