Thanks Bob S. That was very helpful. It surprises me that for such an interesting and seemingly common effect more textbooks don't discuss it. Jackson only talks about skin depth, but not the skin effect. Thanks again!
In DC circuits the charge carriers move uniformly through the entire cross sectional area of the wire. In AC circuits the current is constrained to travel in a thin "skin" just below the surface of the wire, effectively reducing the cross-sectional area of the wire. The effect becomes more...