Eddy dynamics of ß plumes

Abstract

The importance of eddies and nonlinearities in ß-plume dynamics in the deep ocean was investigated using reduced gravity models of the deep ocean forced by a small region of cross isopycnal transport in the interior. The effect of topography on ß-plumes was also examined by placing a Gaussian bump in the forcing region. Despite the fact that the mean flow is weak in the deep ocean interior, it was found that the nonlinearity and instabilities are still important for realistic parameter and forcing values. The flow was dominated by eddies and was remarkably different from what would be expected from a linear solution.