An experimental study of “Taylor columns”

Hide, R.; Ibbetson, A.

doi:10.1016/0019-1035(66)90038-8

Cited by 69 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 10 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The behavior described above, observed for h/h 0 ϭ 0.75, is consistent with previous laboratory experiments investigating the effect of nonlinear processes, i.e. Rossby number, on Taylor-Proudman column formation (Hide and Ibbetson, 1966). For a uniform flow past a submerged cylinder, as the Rossby number increases, the fluid starts penetrating the region above the cylinder.…”

Section: B Discussionsupporting

confidence: 77%

“…The behavior of a uniform flow past an obstacle for small Rossby number on an f-or ␤-plane, with inclusion of viscosity and/or inertial effects, has been extensively studied in the past (see McCartney (1975) for a summary on these studies). However, in the present work the value of the Rossby number is R o ϭ /f Ϸ 0.6 Ϫ 1 and the good agreement with Hide and Ibbetson (1966) experiments is expected. A more recent study of a narrow current impinging upon a seamount by Zhang et al (1994) also illustrates the presence of anticyclonic vorticity atop the obstacle and regions of cyclonic vorticity on the right leeside of the obstacle, again in agreement with Figure 11.…”

Section: B Discussionsupporting

confidence: 66%

See 1 more Smart Citation

An experimental study of a mesoscale vortex colliding with topography of varying geometry in a rotating fluid

Adduce¹,

Cenedese²

2004

J Mar Res

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The interaction of a self-propagating barotropic cyclonic vortex with an obstacle has been investigated and the conditions for a vortex to bifurcate into two vortices determined. As in a previous study, after a self-propagating cyclonic vortex came into contact with the obstacle, fluid peeled off the outer edge of the vortex and a so-called "streamer" went around the obstacle in a counterclockwise direction. Under certain conditions, this fluid formed a new cyclonic vortex in the wake of the obstacle, causing bifurcation of the original vortex into two vortices. In the present study we performed three sets of idealized laboratory experiments with the aim of investigating the importance on the bifurcation mechanism of the obstacle's horizontal cross sectional geometry, the influence of the height of the obstacle, and the importance of the slope of the obstacle sidewalls. The present results suggest that bifurcation occurs only when the obstacle height is equal or larger than 85% of the vortex height and that steep sloping sidewalls do not influence the bifurcation mechanism. In addition, experiments performed using an obstacle with an elliptical horizontal cross section revealed that the relevant parameter governing the occurrence of bifurcation is the length which the "streamer" has to travel around the obstacle, and not the dimension of the obstacle in the direction orthogonal to the motion of the vortex. Collisions of oceanic mesoscale vortices with seamounts often result in major modifications of their structure, having significant impacts on the redistribution of water properties. Observations of a "Meddy" bifurcating after colliding with the Irving Seamount in the Canary Basin show behavior similar to these idealized laboratory experiments. This suggests that these results could be used to explain and predict the outcome of a vortex colliding with seamounts of varying geometry in the ocean.

show abstract

Section: B Discussionsupporting

confidence: 77%

Section: B Discussionsupporting

confidence: 66%

An experimental study of a mesoscale vortex colliding with topography of varying geometry in a rotating fluid

Adduce¹,

Cenedese²

2004

J Mar Res

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Hide & Ibbertson 1966;Ibbetson & Tritton 1975;McEwan 1976;Hopfinger, Browand & Gagne 1982;Jacquin et al 1990; Morize & Moisy 2006;Bewley et al 2007;Staplehurst, Davidson & Dalziel 2008). Such experimental observations were complemented by works using the controlled setting of numerical simulations of forced and decaying rotating turbulent flows (e.g.…”

Section: Effects Of Rotation On Turbulence: Focus On Two-dimensionalimentioning

confidence: 99%

Non-local energy transfers in rotating turbulence at intermediate Rossby number

2011

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Turbulent flows subject to solid-body rotation are known to generate steep energy spectra and two-dimensional columnar vortices. The localness of the dominant energy transfers responsible for the accumulation of the energy in the two-dimensional columnar vortices of large horizontal scale remains undetermined. Here, we investigate the scale-locality of the energy transfers directly contributing to the growth of the two-dimensional columnar structures observed in the intermediate Rossby number (Ro) regime. Our approach is to investigate the dynamics of the waves and vortices separately: we ensure that the two-dimensional columnar structures are not directly forced so that the vortices can result only from association with wave to vortical energy transfers. Detailed energy transfers between waves and vortices are computed as a function of scale, allowing the direct tracking of the role and scales of the wave-vortex nonlinear interactions in the accumulation of energy in the large twodimensional columnar structures. It is shown that the dominant energy transfers responsible for the generation of a steep two-dimensional spectrum involve direct nonlocal energy transfers from small-frequency small-horizontal-scale three-dimensional waves to large-horizontal-scale two-dimensional columnar vortices. Sensitivity of the results to changes in resolution and forcing scales is investigated and the non-locality of the dominant energy transfers leading to the emergence of the columnar vortices is shown to be robust. The interpretation of the scaling law observed in rotating flows in the intermediate-Ro regime is revisited in the light of this new finding of dominant non-locality.

show abstract

“…The first hypothesis is that we deal with a phenomenon in a rotating fluid in which a Taylor column is fixed to Madeira or part of it. Experiments by Hide & Ibbetson (1966) give a range of Rossby number Ro and Ekman number Ek in which Taylor columns over a flat cylinder could be observed in a rotating-tank experiment. From the weather data taken at Funchal, Madeira, at the time of the cloud photographs and related to the upper level of the clouds, Moll finds that neither Ro nor Ek, the latter calculated for both the molecular and the eddy vi�cosity, falls in the range of observed Taylor columns.…”

Section: Vortex Trails Over Ocean Islandsmentioning

confidence: 98%