Heat transport through diffusive interfaces
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Authors
Flanagan, Jason D.
Lefler, Angela S.
Radko, Timour
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Date of Issue
2013
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Abstract
We perform a series of 3-D Direct Numerical
Simulations (DNS) to assess the vertical heat transport
through thermohaline staircases in the Arctic Ocean. The
diagnostics of DNS, performed for the first time in the
realistic parameter range, result in vertical fluxes
exceeding those of extant “four-thirds flux laws” by as
much as a factor of 2 and suggest that the 4/3 exponent
may require downward revision. Through a series of
equivalent 2-D DNS, we show that they are consistent with
their more resource-intensive 3-D counterparts for
sufficiently large density ratio (Rr) but underestimate heat
transport for low Rr. Finally, we examine the role of
boundary conditions in controlling the vertical heat transport.
Rigid boundaries—a necessary ingredient in laboratoryderived
flux-laws—are shown to reduce the estimates of heat
fluxes relative to the corresponding periodic boundary
conditions.
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Article
Description
The article of record as published may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/grl.50440
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Oceanography
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Citation
Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 40, pp. 2466-2470, 2013
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This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.