Abyssal Mixing in the Laboratory
T. Dauxois, E. Ermanyuk, C. Brouzet, S. Joubaud and I. Sibgatullin
Motivation
The continuous energy input to the ocean interior comes from the interaction of
global tides with the bottom topography yielding a global rate of energy conversion
to internal tides of the order of 1TW [1, 2]. The subsequent mechanical energy cascade to small-scale internal-wave motion and mixing is a subject of active debate
in view of the important role played by abyssal mixing in existing models of ocean
dynamics. The oceanographic data support the important role of internal waves in
mixing, at least locally: increased rates of diapycnal mixing are reported [3] in the
bulk of abyssal regions over rough topography in contrast to regions with smooth
bottom topography. A question remains: how does energy injected through internal
waves at large vertical scales induce the mixing of the fluid?
Using laboratory experiments and numerical simulations, we suggest the energy
cascade in internal wave attractors as a novel laboratory model of a natural cascade. We show that energy transfer from global to small scales in attractors operates
via a hierarchy of triadic resonant interactions producing a complex internal wave
T. Dauxois ( ✉ ) ⋅ C. Brouzet ⋅ S. Joubaud
Univ Lyon, ENS de Lyon, Univ Claude Bernard Lyon 1, CNRS,
Laboratoire de Physique, 69342 Lyon, France
e-mail: thierry.dauxois@ens-lyon.fr
C. Brouzet
e-mail: Christophe.brouzet@ens-lyon.fr
S. Joubaud
e-mail: Sylvain.Joubaud@ens-lyon.fr
E. Ermanyuk
Lavrentyev Institute of Hydrodynamics, Novosibirsk, Russia
e-mail: ermanyuk@hydro.nsc.ru
I. Sibgatullin
Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics, Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
e-mail: sibgat@ocean.ru
I. Sibgatullin
Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
© Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018
M. G. Velarde et al. (eds.), The Ocean in Motion, Springer Oceanography,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71934-4_16
221
T. Dauxois, E. Ermanyuk, C. Brouzet, S. Joubaud and I. Sibgatullin
Motivation
The continuous energy input to the ocean interior comes from the interaction of
global tides with the bottom topography yielding a global rate of energy conversion
to internal tides of the order of 1TW [1, 2]. The subsequent mechanical energy cascade to small-scale internal-wave motion and mixing is a subject of active debate
in view of the important role played by abyssal mixing in existing models of ocean
dynamics. The oceanographic data support the important role of internal waves in
mixing, at least locally: increased rates of diapycnal mixing are reported [3] in the
bulk of abyssal regions over rough topography in contrast to regions with smooth
bottom topography. A question remains: how does energy injected through internal
waves at large vertical scales induce the mixing of the fluid?
Using laboratory experiments and numerical simulations, we suggest the energy
cascade in internal wave attractors as a novel laboratory model of a natural cascade. We show that energy transfer from global to small scales in attractors operates
via a hierarchy of triadic resonant interactions producing a complex internal wave
T. Dauxois ( ✉ ) ⋅ C. Brouzet ⋅ S. Joubaud
Univ Lyon, ENS de Lyon, Univ Claude Bernard Lyon 1, CNRS,
Laboratoire de Physique, 69342 Lyon, France
e-mail: thierry.dauxois@ens-lyon.fr
C. Brouzet
e-mail: Christophe.brouzet@ens-lyon.fr
S. Joubaud
e-mail: Sylvain.Joubaud@ens-lyon.fr
E. Ermanyuk
Lavrentyev Institute of Hydrodynamics, Novosibirsk, Russia
e-mail: ermanyuk@hydro.nsc.ru
I. Sibgatullin
Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics, Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
e-mail: sibgat@ocean.ru
I. Sibgatullin
Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
© Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018
M. G. Velarde et al. (eds.), The Ocean in Motion, Springer Oceanography,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71934-4_16
221