Three-Dimensional Structure of Thermohaline Staircases in the Tropical North Atlantic and Their Effect on Acoustic Propagation
Under typical conditions in the subtropical thermocline double-diffusion occurs in the form of salt fingering (warm, salty fluid overlies cold, fresh fluid). The formation of staircases in the thermohaline structure of the ocean has been observed since the late 1960s, with recent field data collecte...
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ftdtic:ADA576264 2023-05-15T17:30:40+02:00 Three-Dimensional Structure of Thermohaline Staircases in the Tropical North Atlantic and Their Effect on Acoustic Propagation Bulters, Amy C NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL MONTEREY CA 2012-12 text/html http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA576264 http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA576264 en eng http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA576264 Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. DTIC Acoustics Thermodynamics *ACOUSTICS *THERMAL PROPERTIES DIFFUSION NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN PROPAGATION SOUND TRANSMISSION TROPICAL REGIONS THERMOHALINE Text 2012 ftdtic 2016-02-24T10:46:12Z Under typical conditions in the subtropical thermocline double-diffusion occurs in the form of salt fingering (warm, salty fluid overlies cold, fresh fluid). The formation of staircases in the thermohaline structure of the ocean has been observed since the late 1960s, with recent field data collected within the tropical Atlantic displaying staircases with high-gradient interfaces characterized by a unique spatial orientation determined by background temperature and salinity. Competing theories have been proposed to explain the dynamics of these staircases; however, the origin of the staircases and the mechanism that controls final equilibrium remains poorly understood. This thesis examines staircase development in the tropical Atlantic. Incorporating double diffusion using the flux-gradient formulation of Radko and Smith, staircases are numerically simulated to resolve the controversial aspects of the staircase theories. The staircase simulations are critically evaluated against the C-SALT experiment observations, and the conditions for their formation and explanation of the fully equilibrated state are resolved and explained. The effect of acoustic propagation through the three-dimensional modeled staircases is evaluated to determine the impact of these large staircase areas on various frequencies and depths. Text North Atlantic Defense Technical Information Center: DTIC Technical Reports database |
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Open Polar |
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Defense Technical Information Center: DTIC Technical Reports database |
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English |
topic |
Acoustics Thermodynamics *ACOUSTICS *THERMAL PROPERTIES DIFFUSION NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN PROPAGATION SOUND TRANSMISSION TROPICAL REGIONS THERMOHALINE |
spellingShingle |
Acoustics Thermodynamics *ACOUSTICS *THERMAL PROPERTIES DIFFUSION NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN PROPAGATION SOUND TRANSMISSION TROPICAL REGIONS THERMOHALINE Bulters, Amy C Three-Dimensional Structure of Thermohaline Staircases in the Tropical North Atlantic and Their Effect on Acoustic Propagation |
topic_facet |
Acoustics Thermodynamics *ACOUSTICS *THERMAL PROPERTIES DIFFUSION NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN PROPAGATION SOUND TRANSMISSION TROPICAL REGIONS THERMOHALINE |
description |
Under typical conditions in the subtropical thermocline double-diffusion occurs in the form of salt fingering (warm, salty fluid overlies cold, fresh fluid). The formation of staircases in the thermohaline structure of the ocean has been observed since the late 1960s, with recent field data collected within the tropical Atlantic displaying staircases with high-gradient interfaces characterized by a unique spatial orientation determined by background temperature and salinity. Competing theories have been proposed to explain the dynamics of these staircases; however, the origin of the staircases and the mechanism that controls final equilibrium remains poorly understood. This thesis examines staircase development in the tropical Atlantic. Incorporating double diffusion using the flux-gradient formulation of Radko and Smith, staircases are numerically simulated to resolve the controversial aspects of the staircase theories. The staircase simulations are critically evaluated against the C-SALT experiment observations, and the conditions for their formation and explanation of the fully equilibrated state are resolved and explained. The effect of acoustic propagation through the three-dimensional modeled staircases is evaluated to determine the impact of these large staircase areas on various frequencies and depths. |
author2 |
NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL MONTEREY CA |
format |
Text |
author |
Bulters, Amy C |
author_facet |
Bulters, Amy C |
author_sort |
Bulters, Amy C |
title |
Three-Dimensional Structure of Thermohaline Staircases in the Tropical North Atlantic and Their Effect on Acoustic Propagation |
title_short |
Three-Dimensional Structure of Thermohaline Staircases in the Tropical North Atlantic and Their Effect on Acoustic Propagation |
title_full |
Three-Dimensional Structure of Thermohaline Staircases in the Tropical North Atlantic and Their Effect on Acoustic Propagation |
title_fullStr |
Three-Dimensional Structure of Thermohaline Staircases in the Tropical North Atlantic and Their Effect on Acoustic Propagation |
title_full_unstemmed |
Three-Dimensional Structure of Thermohaline Staircases in the Tropical North Atlantic and Their Effect on Acoustic Propagation |
title_sort |
three-dimensional structure of thermohaline staircases in the tropical north atlantic and their effect on acoustic propagation |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA576264 http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA576264 |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_source |
DTIC |
op_relation |
http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA576264 |
op_rights |
Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. |
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1766127535543812096 |