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Wave-induced shear instability in the summer thermocline

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2006

J. D. Woods
J. D. Woods
Affiliation:
Meteorological Office, Bracknell, Berks
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Abstract

The fine structure of the summer thermocline in the Mediterranean Sea around Malta, investigated by a new temperature-gradient meter and by photographs of dye tracers, is summarized. The principal internal feature of the thermocline is a series of thin, laminar-flow sheets of high static stability, separated by weakly turbulent layers of only moderate density gradient and a few metres thick. A mechanism for generating the patches of turbulence observed on these thermocline sheets is established by comparing dye photographs with a theory by Miles & Howard (1964).

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 32 , Issue 4 , 18 June 1968 , pp. 791 - 800
Copyright
© 1968 Cambridge University Press

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