The turbulent motions responsible for ocean mixing occur on scales much smaller than those resolved in numerical simulations
of oceanic flows. Great progress has been made in understanding the sources of energy for mixing, the mechanisms, and the
rates. On the other hand, we still do not have adequate answers to first order questions such as the extent to which the thermohaline
circulation of the ocean, and hence the earth's climate, is sensitive to the present mixing rates in the ocean interior. Internal
waves, generated by either wind or flow over topography, appear to be the principle cause of mixing. Mean and eddy flows over
topography generate internal lee waves, while tidal flows over topography generate internal tides. The relative importance
of these different internal wave sources is unknown. There are also great uncertainties about the spatial and temporal variation
of mixing. Calculations of internal tide generation are becoming increasingly robust, but we do not know enough about the
subsequent behavior of internal tides and their eventual breakdown into turbulence. It does seem, however, that most internal
tide energy flux is radiated away from generation sites as low modes that propagate over basin scales. The mechanisms of wave-wave
interaction and topographic scattering both act to transfer wave energy from low modes to smaller dissipative scales.
This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date. 相似文献
A fluorescent sand-tracer experiment was performed at Comporta Beach (Portugal) with the aim of acquiring longshore sediment transport data on a reflective beach, the optimization of field and laboratory tracer procedures and the improvement of the conceptual model used to support tracer data interpretation.
The field experiment was performed on a mesotidal reflective beach face in low energetic conditions (significant wave height between 0.4 and 0.5 m). Two different colour tracers (orange and blue) were injected at low tide and sampled in the two subsequent low tides using a high resolution 3D grid extending 450 m alongshore and 30 m cross-shore. Marked sand was detected using an automatic digital image processing system developed in the scope of the present experiment.
Results for the two colour tracers show a remarkable coherence, with high recovery rates attesting data validity. Sand tracer displayed a high advection velocity, but with distinct vertical distribution patterns in the two tides: in the first tide there was a clear decrease in tracer advection velocity with depth while in the second tide, the tracer exhibited an almost uniform vertical velocity distribution. This differing behaviour suggests that, in the first tide, the tracer had not reached equilibrium within the transport system, pointing to a considerable time lag between injection and complete mixing. This issue has important implications for the interpretation of tracer data, indicating that short term tracer experiments tend to overestimate transport rates. In this work, therefore, longshore estimates were based on tracer results obtained during the second tide.
The estimated total longshore transport rate at Comporta Beach was 2 × 10− 3 m3/s, more than four times larger than predicted using standard empirical longshore formulas. This discrepancy, which results from the unusually large active moving layer observed during the experiment, confirms the idea that most common longshore transport equations under-estimate total sediment transport in plunging/surging waves. 相似文献
The mathematical framework for turbulent transport in the ocean is reasonably well established. It may be applied to large-scale fields of scalars in the ocean and to the instantaneous or continuous discharge from a point. The theory and its physical basis can also provide an interpretation of passive scalar spectra. Spatial variations in the rate of turbulent transfer can be related to the movement of the center of mass of a scalar and to a formulation in terms of entrainment. The relative dispersion of a scalar with respect to its center of mass and the streakiness of the concentration field within the relative dispersion domain need to be considered. In many of these problems it is valuable to think in terms of simple models for individual streaks, as well as overall statistical properties. 相似文献
Using an idealized ocean general circulation model, we examine the effect of “mixing hotspots” (localized regions of intense
diapycnal mixing) predicted based on internal wave-wave interaction theory (Hibiya et al., 2006) on the meridional overturning circulation of the Pacific Ocean. Although the assumed diapycnal diffusivity in the
mixing hotspots is a little larger than the predicted value, the upwelling in the mixing hotspots is not sufficient to balance
the deep-water production; out of 17 Sv of the downwelled water along the southern boundary, only 9.2 Sv is found to upwell
in the mixing hotspots. The imbalance as much as 7.8 Sv is compensated by entrainment into the surface mixed layer in the
vicinity of the downwelling region. As a result, the northward transport of the deep water crossing the equator is limited
to 5.5 Sv, much less than estimated from previous current meter moorings and hydrographic surveys. One plausible explanation
for this is that the magnitude of the meridional overturning circulation of the Pacific Ocean has been overestimated by these
observations. We raise doubts about the validity of the previous ocean general circulation models where diapycnal diffusivity
is assigned ad hoc to attain the current magnitude suggested from current meter moorings and hydrographic surveys. 相似文献
A comprehensive numerical study on the three-dimensional structure of a turbulent jet in crossflow is performed. The jet-to-crossflow velocity ratio (R) varies in the range of 2 - 16; both vertical jets and inclined jets without excess streamwise momentum are considered. The numerical results of the Standard two-equation k-ε model show that the turbulent structure can be broadly categorised according to the jet-to-crossflow velocity ratio. For strong to moderate jet discharges, i.e. R> 4, the jet is characterized by a longitudinal transition through a bent-over phase during which the jet becomes almost parallel with the main freestream, to a sectional vortex-pair flow with double concentration maxima; the computed flow details and scalar mixing characteristics can be described by self-similar relations beyond a dimensionless distance of around 20-60. The similarity coefficients are only weakly dependent on R. The cross-section scalar field is kidney-shaped and bifurcated, vvith distinct double concentr 相似文献
Abstract. Two sediment cores were collected in the southern Baltic Sea and sliced into 1.0cm-thick layers. Sediments of each layer were analysed for activities of 210Pb, 137Cs, 134Cs and for the density of meiobenthic organisms (meiofauna). Zones with the rapid mixing occur in the uppermost layers (0–3 cm) of the cores based on I34Cs profiles. The extent and density of meiofauna confirmed the rapid mixing and revealed layers with slow mixing (4–8 cm). Sedimentation rates were derived from 210Pb profiles below the mixing zones (1.21 and 1.72 mm a-I) and were confumed by 137Cs distribution. Of twenty-one major meiofauna taxa commonly found in the Baltic sediments, three were present in the cores. 相似文献
Chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) is the major light absorber in the Baltic Sea. In this study, excitation emission matrix (EEM) fluorescence spectra and UV–visible absorption spectra of CDOM are reported as a function of salinity. Samples from different locations and over different seasons were collected during four cruises in 2002 and 2003 in the Baltic Sea in both Pomeranian Bay and the Gulf of Gdansk. Absorption by CDOM decreased with increased distance from the riverine source and reached a relatively stable absorption background in the open sea. Regression analysis showed that fluorescence intensity was linearly related to absorption by CDOM at 375 nm and aCDOM(375) absorption coefficients were inversely related to salinity. Analysis of CDOM-EEM spectra indicated that a change in composition of CDOM occurred along the salinity gradient in the Baltic Sea. Analysis of percent contribution of respective fluorophore groups to the total intensity of EEM spectra indicated that the fluorescence peaks associated with terrestrial humic components of the CDOM and total integrated fluorescence decreased with decreasing CDOM absorption. In contrast, the protein-like fraction of CDOM decreased to a lesser degree than the others. Analysis of the percent contribution of fluorescence peak intensities to the total fluorescence along the salinity gradient showed that the contribution of protein-like fluorophores increased from 2.6% to 5.1% in the high-salinity region of the transect. Fluorescence and absorption changes observed in the Baltic Sea were similar to those observed in similar transects that have been sampled elsewhere, e.g. in European estuaries, Gulf of Mexico, Mid-Atlantic Bight and the Cape Fear River plume in the South Atlantic Bight, although the changes in the Baltic Sea occurred over a much smaller salinity gradient. 相似文献