Journal
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-OCEANS
Volume 120, Issue 9, Pages 6202-6224Publisher
AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION
DOI: 10.1002/2015JC010970
Keywords
double diffusion; temperature; salinity; lake; heat flux; numerical model
Categories
Funding
- ENAC-Environmental Science and Engineering Section
- project DEWAX
- Provincia Autonoma di Trento
- European Commission [PCOFUND-GA-2008-226070]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Double diffusion originates from the markedly different molecular diffusion rates of heat and salt in water, producing staircase structures under favorable conditions. The phenomenon essentially consists of two processes: molecular diffusion across sharp interfaces and convective transport in the gravitationally unstable layers. In this paper, we propose a model that is based on the one-dimensional description of these two processes only, andby self-organizationis able to reproduce both the large-scale dynamics and the structure of individual layers, while accounting for different boundary conditions. Two parameters characterize the model, describing the time scale for the formation of unstable water parcels and the optimal spatial resolution. Theoretical relationships allow for the identification of the influence of these parameters on the layer structure and on the mass and heat fluxes. The performances of the model are tested for three different lakes (Powell, Kivu, and Nyos), showing a remarkable agreement with actual microstructure measurements.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available