The objective of this study is to theoretically determine the equilibrium surface elevation distribution for the given density field in the ocean with the realistic bottom topography. It is first experimentally demonstrated in a barotropic ocean model experiment that during the process of the geostrophic adjustment in the ocean with the realistic bottom topography the equilibrium surface elevation rapidly adjusts to the most stable state independent of initial conditions. It follows from this result that in a baroclinic ocean the equilibrium gradient of the potential energy that can be converted into the kinetic energy of the vertically averaged flow is rapidly minimized, giving the theoretical solution for the equilibrium surface elevation field. This application of the minimum potential energy principle is experimentally validated in a numerical model simulation of the free surface geostrophic adjustment in the North Atlantic.