Double-Diffusive Recipes. Part I: Large-Scale Dynamics of Thermohaline Staircases
Three-dimensional dynamics of thermohaline staircases are investigated using a series of basin-scale staircase-resolving numerical simulations. The computational domain and forcing fields are chosen to reflect the size and structure of the North Atlantic subtropical thermocline. Salt-finger transpor...
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ftmit:oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/91958 2023-06-11T04:14:45+02:00 Double-Diffusive Recipes. Part I: Large-Scale Dynamics of Thermohaline Staircases Radko, T. Bulters, A. Flanagan, J. D. Campin, Jean-Michel Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Campin, Jean-Michel 2013-12 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/91958 en_US eng American Meteorological Society http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/jpo-d-13-0155.1 Journal of Physical Oceanography 0022-3670 1520-0485 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/91958 Radko, T., A. Bulters, J. D. Flanagan, and J.-M. Campin. “Double-Diffusive Recipes. Part I: Large-Scale Dynamics of Thermohaline Staircases.” J. Phys. Oceanogr. 44, no. 5 (May 2014): 1269–1284. © 2014 American Meteorological Society Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. American Meteorological Society Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 2013 ftmit https://doi.org/10.1175/jpo-d-13-0155.1 2023-05-29T07:29:06Z Three-dimensional dynamics of thermohaline staircases are investigated using a series of basin-scale staircase-resolving numerical simulations. The computational domain and forcing fields are chosen to reflect the size and structure of the North Atlantic subtropical thermocline. Salt-finger transport is parameterized using the flux-gradient formulation based on a suite of recent direct numerical simulations. Analysis of the spontaneous generation of thermohaline staircases suggests that thermohaline layering is a product of the gamma instability, associated with the variation of the flux ratio γ with the density ratio R[subscript p] . After their formation, numerical staircases undergo a series of merging events, which systematically increase the size of layers. Ultimately, the system evolves into a steady equilibrium state with pronounced layers 20–50 m thick. The size of the region occupied by thermohaline staircases is controlled by the competition between turbulent mixing and double diffusion. Assuming, in accordance with observations, that staircases form when the density ratio is less than the critical value of R[subscript cr] ≈ 1.7, the authors arrive at an indirect estimate of the characteristic turbulent diffusivity in the subtropical thermocline. National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant OCE 1334914) National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant CBET 0933057) National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant ANT 0944536) Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic DSpace@MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) Journal of Physical Oceanography 44 5 1269 1284 |
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Open Polar |
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DSpace@MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) |
op_collection_id |
ftmit |
language |
English |
description |
Three-dimensional dynamics of thermohaline staircases are investigated using a series of basin-scale staircase-resolving numerical simulations. The computational domain and forcing fields are chosen to reflect the size and structure of the North Atlantic subtropical thermocline. Salt-finger transport is parameterized using the flux-gradient formulation based on a suite of recent direct numerical simulations. Analysis of the spontaneous generation of thermohaline staircases suggests that thermohaline layering is a product of the gamma instability, associated with the variation of the flux ratio γ with the density ratio R[subscript p] . After their formation, numerical staircases undergo a series of merging events, which systematically increase the size of layers. Ultimately, the system evolves into a steady equilibrium state with pronounced layers 20–50 m thick. The size of the region occupied by thermohaline staircases is controlled by the competition between turbulent mixing and double diffusion. Assuming, in accordance with observations, that staircases form when the density ratio is less than the critical value of R[subscript cr] ≈ 1.7, the authors arrive at an indirect estimate of the characteristic turbulent diffusivity in the subtropical thermocline. National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant OCE 1334914) National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant CBET 0933057) National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant ANT 0944536) |
author2 |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Campin, Jean-Michel |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Radko, T. Bulters, A. Flanagan, J. D. Campin, Jean-Michel |
spellingShingle |
Radko, T. Bulters, A. Flanagan, J. D. Campin, Jean-Michel Double-Diffusive Recipes. Part I: Large-Scale Dynamics of Thermohaline Staircases |
author_facet |
Radko, T. Bulters, A. Flanagan, J. D. Campin, Jean-Michel |
author_sort |
Radko, T. |
title |
Double-Diffusive Recipes. Part I: Large-Scale Dynamics of Thermohaline Staircases |
title_short |
Double-Diffusive Recipes. Part I: Large-Scale Dynamics of Thermohaline Staircases |
title_full |
Double-Diffusive Recipes. Part I: Large-Scale Dynamics of Thermohaline Staircases |
title_fullStr |
Double-Diffusive Recipes. Part I: Large-Scale Dynamics of Thermohaline Staircases |
title_full_unstemmed |
Double-Diffusive Recipes. Part I: Large-Scale Dynamics of Thermohaline Staircases |
title_sort |
double-diffusive recipes. part i: large-scale dynamics of thermohaline staircases |
publisher |
American Meteorological Society |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/91958 |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_source |
American Meteorological Society |
op_relation |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/jpo-d-13-0155.1 Journal of Physical Oceanography 0022-3670 1520-0485 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/91958 Radko, T., A. Bulters, J. D. Flanagan, and J.-M. Campin. “Double-Diffusive Recipes. Part I: Large-Scale Dynamics of Thermohaline Staircases.” J. Phys. Oceanogr. 44, no. 5 (May 2014): 1269–1284. © 2014 American Meteorological Society |
op_rights |
Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1175/jpo-d-13-0155.1 |
container_title |
Journal of Physical Oceanography |
container_volume |
44 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
1269 |
op_container_end_page |
1284 |
_version_ |
1768371012290740224 |