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24.03.2009 (Tuesday)

Double- Diffusive Intrusions

Regular Seminar Liora Malki-Epshtein (University College London)

 at: 15:00 City U.room C343 abstract: When a salt-stratified fluid is cooled from the side, a two-dimensional convection pattern of cells is formed along the vertical side-wall and develops into horizontal intrusions which grow away from the wall. Such conditions exist in the oceans along melting icebergs, and the growth of these intrusions prevents melt-water from rising to the surface. As the intrusions grow, a series of layers is created in the salt water, with stepped temperature and salinity profiles. In this talk, I will describe an experimental and theoretical study carried out while at the ITG in Cambridge on the formation and growth of these double-diffusive intrusions. Observations were made of growth rates of the intrusions, of internal velocities, and of temperature and salinity distributions. The rate of growth of the intrusions was found, surprisingly, to depend on the length of the experimental tank, with the end-wall playing a role in their evolution right from the beginning of the experiment (Malki-Epshtein, Phillips and Huppert, JFM 2004). Internal waves are visualised using particle tracing methods and are shown to propagate throughout the experimental tank, maintaining hydrostatic equilibrium and having a strong role in setting up the layers. Future application of the results of this study to the large scale could have significant implications for the modelling of oceanic double-diffusive processes, which are believed to drive large vertical and lateral fluxes of heat and salt.