A mechanism for angular momentum mixing |
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| Authors: | Rory O R Y Thompson |
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| Institution: | 1. CSIRO Division of Atmospheric Physics , P.O. Box 77, Mordialloc, Victoria, Australia , 3795;2. CSIRO Division of Fisheries and Oceanography , P.O., Box 21, Cronulla, N.S.W., 2230, Australia |
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| Abstract: | Abstract If a contained homogeneous, rotating fluid is forced near to a resonance for elastoid-inertia waves, strong vortices are observed to form. Numerical experiments reported here lend support to the explanation that these are due to a redistribution of the angular momentum by the waves. If the waves grow until the Angular momentum gradient is overturned somewhere, turbulent mixing there make the redistribution irreversible, resulting in a vortex. The process is analogous to the formation of steps in a stratified fluid by breaking internal waves. |
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