Related papers: Ocean dynamics of outer solar system satellites
Much of the geologic activity preserved on Europa's icy surface has been attributed to tidal deformation, mainly due to Europa's eccentric orbit. Although the surface is geologically young (30 - 80 Myr), there is little information as to…
The tropical overturning circulation is examined in a moist aquaplanet general circulation model forced using a non-interactive sea surface temperature (SST) distribution that varies between a present-day Earth-like profile and one that is…
The regimes of possible global atmospheric circulation patterns in an Earth-like atmosphere are explored using a simplified GCM based on the University of Hamburg's Portable University Model for the Atmosphere with simplified (linear)…
Planetary obliquity (axial tilt) plays an important role in regulating the climate evolution and habitability of water-covered planets. Despite the suspicion of large obliquities in several exoplanetary systems, this phenomenon remains hard…
Ocean heat transport on icy moons shapes the ice shell topography, a primary observable of these moons. Two key processes control the heat transport: baroclinic instability driven by surface buoyancy contrasts and convective instability…
Zonal jets are common in planetary atmospheres. Their character, structure, and seasonal variability depend on the planetary parameters. During solstice on Earth and Mars, there is a strong westerly jet in the winter hemisphere and weak,…
The atmospheric circulation of tidally locked planets is dominated by a superrotating eastward equatorial jet. We develop a predictive theory for the formation of this jet, proposing a mechanism in which the three-dimensional stationary…
Mean-field hydrodynamics advanced to clear explanations for the origin and properties of the global meridional flow in stellar convection zones. Qualitative arguments and analysis of basic equations both show that the meridional circulation…
Extra-solar planets close to their host stars have likely undergone significant tidal evolution since the time of their formation. Tides probably dominated their orbital evolution once the dust and gas had cleared away, and as the orbits…
The dissipation of tidal inertial waves in planetary and stellar convective regions is one of the key mechanisms that drive the evolution of star-planet/planet-moon systems. In this context, the interaction between tidal inertial waves and…
The predominant force balance in rapidly rotating planetary cores is between Coriolis, pressure, buoyancy and Lorentz forces. This magnetostrophic balance leads to a Taylor state where the spatially averaged azimuthal Lorentz force is…
Gravitational tidal interactions drive long-term rotational and orbital evolution in planetary systems, in multiple (particularly close binary) star systems and in planetary moon systems. Dissipation of tidal flows in Earth's oceans is…
Thermal atmospheric tides can torque telluric planets away from spin-orbit synchronous rotation, as observed in the case of Venus. They thus participate to determine the possible climates and general circulations of the atmospheres of these…
The full-phase infrared light curves of low-eccentricity hot Jupiters show a trend of increasing dayside-to-nightside brightness temperature difference with increasing equilibrium temperature. Here we present a three-dimensional model that…
(abridged) Context. Turbulent fluxes of angular momentum and heat due to rotationally affected convection play a key role in determining differential rotation of stars. Here we perform a systematic comparison between Cartesian and spherical…
Giant planets like Jupiter and Saturn feature strong zonal wind patterns on their surfaces. Although several different mechanisms that may drive these jets have been proposed over the last decades, the origin of the zonal winds is still…
The solar convection zone exhibits a strong level of differential rotation, whereby the rotation period of the polar regions is about 25-30% longer than the equatorial regions. The Coriolis force associated with these zonal flows…
The geologic activity at Enceladus's south pole remains unexplained, though tidal deformations are probably the ultimate cause. Recent gravity and libration data indicate that Enceladus's icy crust floats on a global ocean, is rather thin,…
The solar atmosphere is composed of many species which are populated at different ionization and excitation levels. The upper chromosphere, transition region, and corona are nearly collisionless. Consequently, slippage between, for…
Close-in giant planets with strong stellar irradiation show atmospheric circulation patterns with strong equatorial jets and global-scale stationary waves. So far, almost all modeling works on atmospheric circulations of such giant planets…