Ice and Fluid Dynamics

Abstract:

A model is developed for turbulent natural convection in boundary layers formed next to isothermal vertical surfaces. A scaling analysis shows that the flow can be described by plume equations for an outer turbulent region coupled to a resolved near-wall laminar flow. On the laboratory scale, the inner layer is dominated by its own buoyancy and the Nusselt number scales as the one-third power of the Rayleigh number (Nu ∝ Raz1/3). This gives a constant heat flux, consistent with previous experimental and theoretical studies. On larger geophysical scales the buoyancy is strongest in the outer layer and the laminar layer is driven by the shear imposed on it. The predicted heat transfer correlation then has the Nusselt number proportional to the one-half power of Rayleigh number (Nu ∝ Raz1/2) so that a larger heat flux is predicted than might be expected from an extrapolation of laboratory-scale results. The criteria for transitions between flow regimes are consistent with a hierarchy of instabilities of the near-wall laminar flow, with a buoyancy-driven instability operating on the laboratory scale and a shear-driven instability operating on geophysical scales. © 2008 Cambridge University Press.

Abstract:

We study a simplified model of ice-ocean interaction beneath a floating ice shelf, and investigate the possibility for channels to form in the ice shelf base due to spatial variations in conditions at the grounding line. The model combines an extensional thin-film description of viscous ice flow in the shelf, with melting at its base driven by a turbulent ocean plume. Small transverse perturbations to the one-dimensional steady state are considered, driven either by ice thickness or subglacial discharge variations across the grounding line. Either forcing leads to the growth of channels downstream, with melting driven by locally enhanced ocean velocities, and thus heat transfer. Narrow channels are smoothed out due to turbulent mixing in the ocean plume, leading to a preferred wavelength for channel growth. In the absence of perturbations at the grounding line, linear stability analysis suggests that the one dimensional state is stable to initial perturbations, chiefly due to the background ice advection.

Abstract:

We take a numerical approach to analyze the mechanisms controlling the spacing of chimneys -- channels devoid of solid -- in two-dimensional mushy layers formed by solidifying a binary alloy. Chimneys are the principal conduits through which buoyancy effects transport material out of the mushy layer and into the liquid from which it formed. Experiments show a coarsening of chimney spacing and we pursue the hypothesis that this observation is a consequence of a variational principle: the chimney spacing adjusts to optimize material transport and hence maximize the rate of removal of potential energy stored in the mushy layer. The optimal solute flux increases approximately linearly with the mushy layer Rayleigh number. However, for spacings below a critical value the chimneys collapse and solute fluxes cease, revealing a hysteresis between chimney convection and no flow.