Experiments on Convection and Dense Plume Dynamics on a Sloping Bottom

University Of Southern California, Los Angeles CA

Investigators

Abstract

0080069/Smethie This project consists of a study of the way in which dense water is formed on a shelf and then descends to depth when the shelf-water is subject to a negative surface buoyancy flux. The intent is to model dense water formation on continental shelves with the Weddell Sea quoted as the main motivation. The approach is to perform laboratory experiments in a rotating tank with a simplified shelf-slope geometry. The experiments are distinguished from earlier experiments by the use of a distributed surface buoyancy flux, by a novel approach to trying to quantify the viscous flow draining fluid from the down-slope gravity currents, and by the inclusion of canyons and ridges on the slope topography.