A Conforming Finite Element Discretization of the Streamfunction Form of   the Unsteady Quasi-Geostrophic Equations
  This paper presents a conforming finite element semi-discretization of the streamfunction form of the one-layer unsteady quasi-geostrophic equations, which are a commonly used model for large-scale wind-driven ocean circulation. We derive optimal error estimates and present numerical results. 
Erich L Foster and Traian Iliescu and David R. Wells
math.NA