A column of warm salty water lies over cooler fresher water in the subtropical Atlantic

PHYSICS · Subjective · Fermi University Physics · Fluids & Continuum Physics · Convection, rotation and geophysical flows · Convection, rotation and geophysical flows

Fluid Dynamics, Ch Stratified flow, double diffusion and geophysical scales

Problem

A column of warm salty water lies over cooler fresher water in the subtropical Atlantic, with a background temperature gradient Tˉz=0.045 K m−1\bar T_z = 0.045\,\mathrm{K\,m^{-1}} favourable to salt fingering. Take the thermal expansion coefficient αT=2.0×10−4 K−1\alpha_T = 2.0\times10^{-4}\,\mathrm{K^{-1}}, thermal diffusivity κT=1.4×10−7 m2 s−1\kappa_T = 1.4\times10^{-7}\,\mathrm{m^2\,s^{-1}}, kinematic viscosity ν=1.0×10−6 m2 s−1\nu = 1.0\times10^{-6}\,\mathrm{m^2\,s^{-1}} and g=9.8 m s−2g = 9.8\,\mathrm{m\,s^{-2}}. Estimate the width of the salt fingers using d=2π(κTνgαTTˉz)1/4.d = 2\pi\left(\frac{\kappa_T\nu}{g\alpha_T\bar T_z}\right)^{1/4}.

Browse the problem library