Wells Judith R.

No Thumbnail Available
Last Name
Wells
First Name
Judith R.
ORCID

Filters

4 3
2001 - 2006 4
3 1
4
Reset filters

Settings

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
  • Thesis
    A laboratory study of localized boundary mixing in a rotating stratified fluid
    (Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 2003-02) Wells, Judith R.
    Oceanic observations indicate that abyssal mixing is localized in regions of rough topography. How locally mixed fluid interacts with the ambient fluid is an open question. Laboratory experiments explore the interaction of mechanically induced boundary mixing and an interior body of linearly stratified rotating fluid. A single oscillating bar produces a small region of turbulence along the wall at middepth. Mixed fluid quickly reaches a steady state height set by a turbulent-buoyant balance, independent of rotation. Initially, the bar is exposed on three sides. Mixed fluid intrudes directly into the interior rather than forming a boundary current. The circulation patterns suggest a model of unmixed fluid being laterally entrained into the turbulent zone. In accord with the model, observed outflux is constant, independent of stratification and restricted by rotation. Later the bar is laterally confines between two walls, which form a channel opening into the basin. A small percentage of mixed fluid enters a boundary current, which exits the channel. The bulk forms a cyclonic circulation in front of the bar, which blocks the channel and restricts horizontal entrainment. In the confined case, the volume flux of mixed fluid decays with time.
  • Article
    Circulation around a thin zonal island
    (Cambridge University Press, 2001-06-22) Wells, Judith R. ; Helfrich, Karl R.
    Laboratory and numerical experiments are used to study flow of a uniform-density fluid on the [beta]-plane around a thin zonally elongated island (or ridge segment in the abyss). This orientation is chosen specifically to highlight the roles of the zonal boundary layer dynamics in controlling the circulation around the island. There are examples of deep ocean topography that fall into this category which make the work directly applicable to oceanic flows. Linear theory for the transport around the island and the flow structure is based on a modification of the Island Rule (Pedlosky et al. 1997; Pratt & Pedlosky 1999). The linear solution gives a north–south symmetric flow around the island with novel features, including stagnation points which divide the zonal boundary layers into eastward and westward flowing zones, and a western boundary layer of vanishing length, and zonal jets. Laboratory experiments agree with the linear theory for small degrees of nonlinearity, as measured by the ratio of the inertial to Munk boundary layer scales. With increasing nonlinearity the north–south symmetry is broken. The southern stagnation point (for anticyclonic forcing) moves to the eastern tip of the island. The flow rounding the eastern tip from the northern side of the island now separates from the island. Time-dependence emerges and recirculation cells develop on the northern side of the island. Mean transport around the island is relatively unaffected by nonlinearity and given to within 20% by the modified Island Rule. Numerical solutions of the shallow water equations are in close agreement with the laboratory results. The transition from zonal to meridional island orientation occurs for island inclinations from zonal greater than about 20°.
  • Article
    Mixing at the head of a canyon : a laboratory investigation of fluid exchanges in a rotating, stratified basin
    (American Geophysical Union, 2006-12-05) Wells, Judith R. ; Helfrich, Karl R.
    Observations indicate that oceanic mixing is intensified near the head of submarine canyons. How the presence of canyon walls affects the local production and distribution of mixed fluid is an open question. These dynamics are addressed through rotating tank experiments which impose mixing at middepth at the closed end of a channel open to a larger body of water. Turbulence is generated in a linearly stratified fluid with initial buoyancy frequency N by means of a single bar oscillated with frequency ω. The mixed fluid quickly reaches a steady state height h ∼ (ω/N)1/2 independent of the Coriolis frequency f and collapses into the channel interior. A small percentage of the fluid exported from the turbulent zone enters a boundary current. The bulk forms a cyclonic circulation in front of the bar. As the recirculation cell expands to fill the channel, it restricts horizontal entrainment into the turbulent zone. Mixed fluid flux decays with time as t inline equation and is dependent on the size of the mixing zone and the balance between turbulence, rotation, and stratification. The recirculation cell is confined within the channel, and export of mixed fluid into the basin is restricted to the weak boundary current. As horizontal entrainment is shut down, long-term production of mixed fluid relies more on vertical entrainment. However, the scalings indicate that short-term dynamics are the most applicable to oceanic conditions.
  • Article
    Laboratory study of localized boundary mixing in a rotating stratified fluid
    (Cambridge University Press, 2004-09-24) Wells, Judith R. ; Helfrich, Karl R.
    Oceanic observations indicate that abyssal mixing tends to be localized to regions of rough topography. How localized mixing interacts with the ambient fluid in a stratified, rotating system is an open question. To gain insight into this complicated process laboratory experiments are used to explore the interaction of mechanically induced boundary mixing and an interior body of linearly stratified rotating fluid. Turbulence is generated by a single vertically oscillating horizontal bar of finite horizontal extent, located at mid-depth along the tank wall. The turbulence forms a region of mixed fluid which quickly reaches a steady-state height and collapses into the interior. The mixed-layer thickness, $h_m\,{\sim}\,\gamma ({\omega}/{N})^{1/2}$, is spatially uniform and independent of the Coriolis frequency $f$. $N$ is the initial buoyancy frequency, $\omega$ is the bar oscillation frequency, and $\gamma\,{\approx}\,1$ cm is an empirical constant determined by the bar geometry. Surprisingly, the export of mixed fluid does not occur as a boundary current along the tank perimeter. Rather, mixed fluid intrudes directly into the interior as a radial front of uniform height, advancing with a speed comparable to a gravity current. The volume of mixed fluid grows linearly with time, $V\,{\propto}\,({N}/{f})^{3/2}h_m^3 \textit{ft}$, and is independent of the lateral extent of the mixing bar. Entrainment into the turbulent zone occurs principally through horizontal flows at the level of the mixing that appear to eliminate export by a geostrophic boundary flow. The circulation patterns suggest a model of unmixed fluid laterally entrained at velocity $u_e \,{\sim}\,Nh_m $ into the open sides of a turbulent zone with height $h_{m}$ and a length, perpendicular to the boundary, proportional to $L_f \,{\equiv}\,\gamma ({\omega}/{f})^{1/2}$. Here $L_{f}$ is an equilibrium length scale associated with rotational control of bar-generated turbulence. The model flux of exported mixed fluid $Q\,{\sim}\,h_m L_f u_e$ is constant and in agreement with the experiments.