Stratification effects in the turbulent boundary layer beneath a melting ice shelf: Insights from resolved large-eddy simulations
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Ocean turbulence contributes to the basal melting and dissolution of ice shelves by transporting heat and salt toward the ice. The meltwater causes a stable salinity stratification to form beneath the ice that suppresses turbulence. Here we...
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ftunivcam:oai:www.repository.cam.ac.uk:1810/292402 2024-01-14T10:07:46+01:00 Stratification effects in the turbulent boundary layer beneath a melting ice shelf: Insights from resolved large-eddy simulations Vreugdenhil, CA Taylor, JR 2019 application/pdf https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/292402 https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.39552 eng eng American Meteorological Society http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/jpo-d-18-0252.1 Journal of Physical Oceanography https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.39569 https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/292402 doi:10.17863/CAM.39552 All rights reserved Ice shelves Turbulence Large eddy simulations Article 2019 ftunivcam https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.3955210.17863/CAM.39569 2023-12-21T23:19:13Z <jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Ocean turbulence contributes to the basal melting and dissolution of ice shelves by transporting heat and salt toward the ice. The meltwater causes a stable salinity stratification to form beneath the ice that suppresses turbulence. Here we use large-eddy simulations motivated by the ice shelf–ocean boundary layer (ISOBL) to examine the inherently linked processes of turbulence and stratification, and their influence on the melt rate. Our rectangular domain is bounded from above by the ice base where a dynamic melt condition is imposed. By varying the speed of the flow and the ambient temperature, we identify a fully turbulent, well-mixed regime and an intermittently turbulent, strongly stratified regime. The transition between regimes can be characterized by comparing the Obukhov length, which provides a measure of the distance away from the ice base where stratification begins to dominate the flow, to the viscous length scale of the interfacial sublayer. Upper limits on simulated turbulent transfer coefficients are used to predict the transition from fully to intermittently turbulent flow. The predicted melt rate is sensitive to the choice of the heat and salt transfer coefficients and the drag coefficient. For example, when coefficients characteristic of fully developed turbulence are applied to intermittent flow, the parameterized three-equation model overestimates the basal melt rate by almost a factor of 10. These insights may help to guide when existing parameterizations of ice melt are appropriate for use in regional or large-scale ocean models, and may also have implications for other ice–ocean interactions such as fast ice or drifting ice.</jats:p> Catherine Article in Journal/Newspaper Ice Shelf Ice Shelves Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository |
institution |
Open Polar |
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Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftunivcam |
language |
English |
topic |
Ice shelves Turbulence Large eddy simulations |
spellingShingle |
Ice shelves Turbulence Large eddy simulations Vreugdenhil, CA Taylor, JR Stratification effects in the turbulent boundary layer beneath a melting ice shelf: Insights from resolved large-eddy simulations |
topic_facet |
Ice shelves Turbulence Large eddy simulations |
description |
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Ocean turbulence contributes to the basal melting and dissolution of ice shelves by transporting heat and salt toward the ice. The meltwater causes a stable salinity stratification to form beneath the ice that suppresses turbulence. Here we use large-eddy simulations motivated by the ice shelf–ocean boundary layer (ISOBL) to examine the inherently linked processes of turbulence and stratification, and their influence on the melt rate. Our rectangular domain is bounded from above by the ice base where a dynamic melt condition is imposed. By varying the speed of the flow and the ambient temperature, we identify a fully turbulent, well-mixed regime and an intermittently turbulent, strongly stratified regime. The transition between regimes can be characterized by comparing the Obukhov length, which provides a measure of the distance away from the ice base where stratification begins to dominate the flow, to the viscous length scale of the interfacial sublayer. Upper limits on simulated turbulent transfer coefficients are used to predict the transition from fully to intermittently turbulent flow. The predicted melt rate is sensitive to the choice of the heat and salt transfer coefficients and the drag coefficient. For example, when coefficients characteristic of fully developed turbulence are applied to intermittent flow, the parameterized three-equation model overestimates the basal melt rate by almost a factor of 10. These insights may help to guide when existing parameterizations of ice melt are appropriate for use in regional or large-scale ocean models, and may also have implications for other ice–ocean interactions such as fast ice or drifting ice.</jats:p> Catherine |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Vreugdenhil, CA Taylor, JR |
author_facet |
Vreugdenhil, CA Taylor, JR |
author_sort |
Vreugdenhil, CA |
title |
Stratification effects in the turbulent boundary layer beneath a melting ice shelf: Insights from resolved large-eddy simulations |
title_short |
Stratification effects in the turbulent boundary layer beneath a melting ice shelf: Insights from resolved large-eddy simulations |
title_full |
Stratification effects in the turbulent boundary layer beneath a melting ice shelf: Insights from resolved large-eddy simulations |
title_fullStr |
Stratification effects in the turbulent boundary layer beneath a melting ice shelf: Insights from resolved large-eddy simulations |
title_full_unstemmed |
Stratification effects in the turbulent boundary layer beneath a melting ice shelf: Insights from resolved large-eddy simulations |
title_sort |
stratification effects in the turbulent boundary layer beneath a melting ice shelf: insights from resolved large-eddy simulations |
publisher |
American Meteorological Society |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/292402 https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.39552 |
genre |
Ice Shelf Ice Shelves |
genre_facet |
Ice Shelf Ice Shelves |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.39569 https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/292402 doi:10.17863/CAM.39552 |
op_rights |
All rights reserved |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.3955210.17863/CAM.39569 |
_version_ |
1788062163284262912 |