(Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 1996-06)
Ni, Bingjian
This thesis addresses the issue, "Which approach to instabilities-temporal,
spatial or pulse theory- is the most appropriate model for the Gulf Stream?" I also
address the question of how the observations might be compared to theory. This thesis
consists of two closely related parts: analytical studies that compare the three types
of instability using the same realistic velocity and topography profiles; and numerical
modeling that uses a continuous forcing function to examine the three types of theory
in the direct context of the Gulf Stream.
