Nonlinear stability of baroclinic flows over topography

Abstract

A new nonlinear stability criterion is derived for baroclinic flows over topography in spherical geometry. The stability of a wide class of exact three-dimensional nonlinear steady state solutions subject to arbitrary disturbances is established. The resonance condition, at the highest total wavenumber, for the steady state solutions and the stability criteria for baroclinic flow in the absence of topography provide the boundaries of the regions of stability in the presence of topography. The analogous results for flow on periodic or infinite beta planes incorporating non-orthogonal function large scale flows are also discussed.     

On the steady mass transport induced by wave motions in a viscous rotating fluid

Abstract

The steady second-order motion induced by a first-order wave motion in a homogeneous, viscous and rotating fluid is examined. If the wave motion produces a steady Ekman layer suction by non-linear interactions, this suction must induce a steady component of interior, relative vorticity parallel to the axis of rotation in order to conserve mass. A boundary value problem for the determination of the induced, steady interior mass transport velocity is presented. The mass transport induced by a Kelvin wave is examined as an illustration and possible application of the theory.     

Three-dimensional convection in spherical shells

Abstract

In this study, the equations of the three-dimensional convective motion of an infinite Prandtl number fluid are solved in spherical geometry, for Rayleigh numbers up to 15 times the critical number. An iterative method is used to find stationary solutions. The spherical parts of the operators are treated using a Galerkin collocation method while the radial and time dependences are expressed using finite difference methods. A systematic search for stationary solutions has led to eight different stream patterns for a low Rayleigh number (1.28 times the critical number). They can be classified as:

I) Axisymmetrical solutions, analogous to rolls in plane geometry.

II) Solutions which have several ascending plumes within a large area of ascending current, and also several descending plumes within an area of descending current. This type of flow is analogous to bimodal circulation in plane geometry.

III) Solutions characterized by isolated ascending (or descending) plumes separated from each other by a closed polyhedral network of descending (or ascending) currents. This type of circulation is called ‘polygonal’ in analogy with hexagonal circulation in plane geometry.

The behaviour of each of the eight solutions has been studied by increasing the Rayleigh number up to 15 times the critical number. A trend towards transitions from type (I) and type (II) solutions to type (III) solutions is observed. It is inferred that only the “polygonal” solutions are stable for a Rayleigh number greater than 15 times the critical number.     

Upon boundary conditions imposed by a stratified fluid

Abstract

It is shown that in the limit of slow steady linearized flow and infinite stratification a stratified region lying above or below a layer of destabilized fluid produces zero velocity and zero stress boundary conditions. These novel boundary conditions constrain flow more fully than the more common rigid or free conditions, and arise because the penetrative flow in the stabilized region must pump only a finite amount of heat.     

Finite prandtl number convection in spherical shells

Abstract

Finite amplitude convection in spherical shells with spherically symmetric gravity and heat source distribution is considered. The nonlinear problem of three-dimensional convection in shells with stress-free and isothermal boundaries is solved by expanding the dependent variables in terms of powers of the amplitude of convection. The preferred mode of convection is determined by a stability analysis in which arbitrary infinitesimal disturbances are superimposed on the steady solutions. The shell is assumed to be thick and only shells for which the ratio ζ of outer radius to inner radius is 2 or 3 are considered. Three cases, two of which lead to a self adjoint problem, are treated in this paper. The stable solutions are found to be l=2 modes for ζ=3 where l is the degree of the spherical harmonics and an l=3 non-axisymmetric mode which exhibits the symmetry of a tetrahedron for ζ=2. These stable solutions transport the maximum amount of heat. The Prandtl number dependence of the heat transport is computed for the various solutions analyzed in the paper.     

Experiments in ocean circulation modelling

Abstract

In a laboratory model ocean, fluid in a rotating tank of varying depth is subjected to “wind-stress”, For a certain range of the parameters, Ekman number E and Rossby number R, a homogeneous fluid displays steady, westward intensified flow. For the same range of E and R, a two-layer fluid can have baroclinic instabilities. The parameter range for the various kinds of instabilities is mapped in a regime diagram. The northward transport in the western boundary current is measured as it varies with Rossby number for both homogeneous and two-layer fluid.     

Inertial waves in a fluid partially filling a cylindrical cavity during spin-up from rest

Abstract

Inertial waves are excited in a fluid contained in a slightly tilted rotating cylindrical cavity while the fluid is spinning up from rest. The surface of the fluid is free. Since the perturbation frequency is equal to the rotation speed resonance occurs at a critical height to radius aspect ratio of the fluid. Detailed study of a particular inertial wave shows that in solid body rotation this “eigenratio” agrees with predictions from linear inviscid theory to within 0.5%. Measured time dependence of the eigenratio during spin-up from rest is a function of the tilt amplitude and agrees favorably with predictions from a numerical study. Mean flow associated with the inertial wave becomes unstable during spin-up and in the steady state. A boundary for the unstable region is found experimentally.     

On the generation,propagation and radiation of magneto–acoustic–gravity waves with application to stars

Abstract

The study of the mechanisms controlling the stratification in closed fluid regions is an important branch of geophysical fluid dynamics. Part of this subject can be handled with a simple linear model, consisting of a buoyancy layer at the non-horizontal boundaries of a container and an advective-diffusive interior coupled by volume continuity. The model is valid under the following conditions: firstly, the buoyancy-frequency characterizing the solution must be sufficiently large to give rise to a flow pattern of boundary layer type and, secondly, the non-horizontal walls must not have too large thermal conductivity.

The main purpose of the present paper is to summarise previous work done by the authors in this field and to present some consequences of their theory not previously discussed.

Three important cases are discussed; certain stationary solutions, the decay of a given stratification and the build up of a stratification in a homogeneous fluid. The experimental results concerning the afore-mentioned cases are presented.     

Symmetries of time-dependent magnetoconvection

Abstract

In the presence of a magnetic field, convection may set in at a stationary or an oscillatory bifurcation, giving rise to branches of steady, standing wave and travelling wave solutions. Numerical experiments provide examples of nonlinear solutions with a variety of different spatiotemporal symmetries, which can be classified by establishing an appropriate group structure. For the idealized problem of two-dimensional convection in a stratified layer the system has left-right spatial symmetry and a continuous symmetry with respect to translations in time. For solutions of period P the latter can be reduced to Z ₂ symmetry by sampling solutions at intervals of ½P. Then the fundamental steady solution has the spatiotemporal symmetry D ₂ = Z ₂ ? Z ₂ and symmetry-breaking yields solutions with Z ₂ symmetry corresponding to travelling waves, standing waves and pulsating waves. A further loss of symmetry leads to modulated waves. Interactions between the fundamental and its first harmonic are described by the group D _2h = D ₂ ? Z ₂ and its invariant subgroups, which describe solutions that are either steady or periodic in a uniformly moving frame. For a Boussinesq fluid in a layer with identical top and bottom boundary conditions there is also an up-down symmetry. With fixed lateral boundaries the spatiotemporal symmetries, again described by D _2h and its invariant subgroups, can be related to results obtained in numerical experiments and analysed by Nagata et al. (1990). With periodic boundary conditions, the full symmetry group, D _2h ?Z ₂, is of order 16. Its invariant subgroups describe pure and mixed-mode solutions, which may be steady states, standing waves, travelling waves, pulsating waves or modulated waves.     

Dielectrophoretic,thermal instability in a spherical shell of fluid

Abstract

This paper is concerned with the dielectrophoretic instability of a spherical shell of fluid. A dielectric fluid, contained in a spherical shell, with rigid boundaries is subjected to a simultaneous radial temperature gradient and radial a.c. electric field. Through the dependence of the dielectric constant on temperature, the fluid experiences a body force somewhat analogous to that of gravity acting on a fluid with density variations. Linear perturbation theory and the assumption of exchange of stabilities lead to an eighth order differential equation in radial dependence of the perturbation temperature. The solution to this equation, satisfying appropriate boundary conditions, yields a critical value of the electrical Rayleigh number and corresponding critical wave number at which convective motion begins. The dependence of each critical number is presented as a function of the gap size and temperature gradient. In the limit of zero shell thickness both the critical Rayleigh number and critical wave number agree with results for the case in the infinite plane problem.     

Numerical simulations of thermal convection in a rapidly rotating spherical shell cooled inhomogeneously from above

Abstract

Numerical simulations of thermal convection in a rapidly rotating spherical fluid shell with and without inhomogeneous temperature anomalies on the top boundary have been carried out using a three-dimensional, time-dependent, spectral-transform code. The spherical shell of Boussinesq fluid has inner and outer radii the same as those of the Earth's liquid outer core. The Taylor number is 10⁷, the Prandtl number is 1, and the Rayleigh number R is 5R_c (R_c is the critical value of R for the onset of convection when the top boundary is isothermal and R is based on the spherically averaged temperature difference across the shell). The shell is heated from below and cooled from above; there is no internal heating. The lower boundary of the shell is isothermal and both boundaries are rigid and impermeable. Three cases are considered. In one, the upper boundary is isothermal while in the others, temperature anomalies with (l,m) = (3,2) and (6,4) are imposed on the top boundary. The spherically averaged temperature difference across the shell is the same in all three cases. The amplitudes of the imposed temperature anomalies are equal to one-half of the spherically averaged temperature difference across the shell. Convective structures are strongly controlled by both rotation and the imposed temperature anomalies suggesting that thermal inhomogeneities imposed by the mantle on the core have a significant influence on the motions inside the core. The imposed temperature anomaly locks the thermal perturbation structure in the outer part of the spherical shell onto the upper boundary and significantly modifies the velocity structure in the same region. However, the radial velocity structure in the outer part of the shell is different from the temperature perturbation structure. The influence of the imposed temperature anomaly decreases with depth in the shell. Thermal structure and velocity structure are similar and convective rolls are more columnar in the inner part of the shell where the effects of rotation are most dominant.     

Rapid formation of taylor columns: Obstacles against sidewalls

Abstract

The problem of topographic forcing by an obstacle against the boundary of a rotating flow is considered in various parameter regimes. The timescale for the motion is the topographic vortex-stretching time, which is inversely proportional to the background rotation rate and the fractional height of the obstacle. For slow flows this time is short compared with the advection time and the governing equation of conservation of potential vorticity is linear. The final state satisfies the non-linear equation for the advection of potential vorticity, however, and so time dependence has given a specific solution to a non-linear problem. The presence of the sidewall causes a stagnant Taylor column to be set up far more rapidly than cases with no sidewall. It is shown that viscosity and mixing arrests the inviscid evolution at some stage, thus some fluid still crosses the obstacle in the steady state. These solutions suggest that experimental results on separation obtained by Griffiths and Linden (1983) can tentatively be ascribed to entrainment and expulsion of fluid through vertical shear layers at the edge of the topography.     

Convection in a rotating cylinder with its sidewall having a finite thermal conductance

Abstract

An investigation is made of steady thermal convection of a Boussinesq fluid confined in a vertically-mounted rotating cylinder. The top and bottom endwall disks are thermal conductors at temperatures T_t and T_b with δT = T_t ? T_b >0. The vertical sidewall has a finite thermal conductance. A Newtonian heat flux condition is adopted at the sidewall. The Rayleigh number of the fluid system is large to render a boundary layer-type flow. Finite-difference numerical solutions to the full Navier-Stokes equations are obtained. The vertical motions within the buoyancy layer along the sidewall induce weak meridional flows in the interior. Because of the Coriolis acceleration, the meridional flows give rise to azimuthal flows relative to the rotating container. Strong vertical gradients of azimuthal flows exist in the regions near the endwalls. As the stratification effect increases, concentration of flow gradients in thin endwall boundary layers becomes more pronounced. The azimuthal flow field exhibits considerable horizontal gradients. The temperature field develops horizontal variations superposed on the dominant vertical distribution. As either the sidewall thermal conductance or the stratification effect decreases, the temperature distribution tends to the profile varying linearly with height. Comparisons of the sizes of the dynamic effects demonstrate that, in the bulk of flow field, the vertical shear of azimuthal velocity is supported by the horizontal temperature gradient, resulting in a thermal-wind relation.     

Spherical dynamos with anisotropic α-effect

Abstract

The mean field induction equation of Steenbeck, Krause and Rädler (1966) is solved for anisotropic α _ik -tensors of varying anisotropy. The attention is restricted to α²-dynamos in spheres with steady axisymmetric magnetic fields. The ratio of the electrical conductivity outside and inside the sphere is varied, but in all cases it is found that a steady dynamo does not exist when the anisotropy of the α _ik -tensor exceeds a critical value. Such a critical value does not exist in the exceptional case of the Fermi boundary condition. The results emphasize the important effect of boundaries on the existence of solutions of the dynamo problem.     

Nonlinear waves on a coupled density front

Abstract

It is shown that the inclusion of the nonlinear terms in the equations of motion of a coupled density front of zero potential vorticity results in wave solutions which merely propagate with time. The linear theory, on the other hand, predicts an exponential temporal growth. The nonlinear equation admits steady solutions representing standing waves whereas if the nonlinear terms are omitted no steady solutions exist. The general initial value problem is difficult to solve numerically since the linear problem is ill posed.

In addition we prove that the general similarity solution of the nonlinear equation tends to zero for large times, at any point in space, regardless of the initial condition.     

Finite amplitude convection and magnetic field generation in a rotating spherical shell

Abstract

Finite amplitude solutions for convection in a rotating spherical fluid shell with a radius ratio of η=0.4 are obtained numerically by the Galerkin method. The case of the azimuthal wavenumber m=2 is emphasized, but solutions with m=4 are also considered. The pronounced distinction between different modes at low Prandtl numbers found in a preceding linear analysis (Zhang and Busse, 1987) is also found with respect to nonlinear properties. Only the positive-ω-mode exhibits subcritical finite amplitude convection. The stability of the stationary drifting solutions with respect to hydrodynamic disturbances is analyzed and regions of stability are presented. A major part of the paper is concerned with the growth of magnetic disturbances. The critical magnetic Prandtl number for the onset of dynamo action has been determined as function of the Rayleigh and Taylor numbers for the Prandtl numbers P=0.1 and P=1.0. Stationary and oscillatory dynamos with both, dipolar and quadrupolar, symmetries are close competitors in the parameter space of the problem.     

Taylor columns in horizontally sheared flow

Abstract

Solutions of the steady, inviscid, non-linear equations for the conservation of potential vorticity are presented for linearly sheared geostrophic flow over a right circular cylinder. The indeterminancy introduced by the presence of closed streamline regions is removed by requiring that the steady flow retains above topography a given fraction of that fluid initially present there, assuming the flow to have been started from rest. Those solutions which retain the largest fraction in uniform and negatively sheared streams satisfy the Ingersoll (1969) criterion (that, in the limit of vanishingly small viscosity, closed streamline regions are stagnant) and so are unaffected by Ekman pumping. These flows are set up on the advection time scale. In positively sheared flows the maximum retention solutions do not satisfy the Ingersoll criterion and thus would be slowly spun down on the far longer viscous spin-up time.

For arbitrary isolated topography, both the partial retention and Ingersoll problems are reduced to a one-dimensional non-linear integral equation and the solution of the Ingersoll problem obtained in the limit of strong positive shear. The stagnant region is symmetric about the zero velocity line and extends to infinity in the streamwise direction. Its cross-stream width is proportional to the rotation rate and fractional height occupied by the obstacle and inversely proportional to the strength of the shear, decreasing inversely as the square of distance upstream and downstream.     

Internal waves in a rotating stratified fluid in an arbitrary gravitational field

Abstract

Small amplitude oscillations of a uniformly rotating, density stratified, Boussinesq, non-dissipative fluid are examined. A mathematical model is constructed to describe timedependent motions which are small deviations from an initial state that is motionless with respect to the rotating frame of reference. The basic stable density distribution is allowed to be an arbitrary prescribed function of the gravitational potential. The problem is considered for a wide class of gravitational fields. General properties of the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of square integrable oscillations are demonstrated, and a bound is obtained for the magnitude of the frequencies. The modal solutions are classified as to type. The eigenfunctions for the pressure field are shown to satisfy a second-order partial differential equation of mixed type, and the equation is obtained for the critical surfaces which delineate the elliptic and hyperbolic regions. The nature of the problem is examined in detail for certain specific gravitational fields, e.g., a radially symmetric field. Where appropriate, results are compared with those of other investigations of waves in a rotating fluid of spherical configuration and the novel aspects of the present treatment are emphasized. Explicit modal solutions are obtained in the specific example of a fluid contained in a rigid cylinder, stratified in the presence of vertical gravity, with the buoyancy frequency N being an arbitrary prescribed function of depth.     

The nonlinear spin-up of a stratified ocean

Abstract

The adjustment of a nonlinear, quasigeostrophic, stratified ocean to an impulsively applied wind stress is investigated under the assumption that barotropic advection of vortex tube length is the most important nonlinearity. The present study complements the steady state theories which have recently appeared, and extends earlier, dissipationless, linear models.

In terms of Sverdrup transport, the equation for baroclinic evolution is a forced advection-diffusion equation. Solutions of this equation subject to a “tilted disk” Ekman divergence are obtained analytically for the case of no diffusion and numerically otherwise. The similarity between the present equation and that of a forced barotropic fluid with bottom topography is shown.

Barotropic flow, which is assumed to mature instantly, can reverse the tendency for westward propagation, and thus produce regions of closed geostrophic contours. Inside these regions, dissipation, or equivalently the eddy field, plays a central role. We assume that eddy mixing effects a lateral, down-gradient diffusion of potential vorticity; hence, within the closed geostrophic contours, our model approaches a state of uniform potential vorticity. The solutions also extend the steady-state theories, which require weak diffusion, by demonstrating that homogenization occurs for moderately strong diffusion.

The evoiution of potential vorticity and the thermocline are examined, and it is shown that the adjustment time of the model is governed by dissipation, rather than baroclinic wave propagation as in linear theories. If dissipation is weak, spin-up of a nonlinear ocean may take several times that predicted by linear models, which agrees with analyses of eddy-resolving general circulation models. The inclusion of a western boundary current may accelerate this process, although dissipation will still play a central role.