Shear and Mixing in Oscillatory Doubly Diffusive Convection
Abstract
To investigate the mechanism of mixing in oscillatory doubly diffusive (ODD) convection, we truncate the horizontal modal expansion of the Boussinesq equations to obtain a simplified model of the process. In the astrophysically interesting case with low Prandtl number, large-scale shears are generated as in ordinary thermal convection. The interplay between the shear and the oscillatory convection produces intermittent overturning of the fluid with significant mixing. By contrast, in the parameter regime appropriate to sea water, large-scale flows are not generated by the convection. However, if such flows are imposed externally, intermittent overturning with enhanced mixing is observed.
Cite
@article{arxiv.astro-ph/0203282,
title = {Shear and Mixing in Oscillatory Doubly Diffusive Convection},
author = {Francesco Paparella and Edward A. Spiegel and Suzanne Talon},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:astro-ph/0203282},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
24 pages, 16 figures, Accepted for publication in Geophysical and Astrophysical Fluid Dynamics