Record Details
Baroclinic Interleaving Instability: A Second-Moment Closure Approach
ScholarsArchive at Oregon State University
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Title | Baroclinic Interleaving Instability: A Second-Moment Closure Approach |
| Names |
Smyth, W. D.
(creator) Burchard, H. (creator) Umlauf, L. (creator) |
| Date Issued | 2012-05 (iso8601) |
| Note | This is the publisher’s final pdf. The published article is copyrighted by the American Meteorological Society and can be found at: http://journals.ametsoc.org/loi/phoc. |
| Abstract | Interleaving motions on a wide, baroclinic front are modeled using a second-moment closure to represent unresolved fluxes by turbulence and salt fingering. A linear perturbation analysis reveals two broad classes of unstable modes. First are scale-selective modes comparable with interleaving as observed in oceanic fronts. These correspond well with observations in some respects but grow by a very different mechanism, which ought to be easily distinguished in hydrographic profiles. The second mode type is the so-called ultraviolet catastrophe, which is expected to lead to steppy profiles even in the absence of interleaving. Both modes are driven by positive feedbacks between interleaving and the underlying small-scale mixing processes. Contrary to expectations, use of the second-moment closure in place of earlier empirical mixing models does not lead to improved agreement with observations. |
| Genre | Article |
| Topic | Instability |
| Identifier | Smyth, W. D., H. Burchard, L. Umlauf, 2012: Baroclinic Interleaving Instability: A Second-Moment Closure Approach. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 42, 764–784. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-11-066.1 |
