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Mixing dynamics of turbidity currents interacting with complex seafloor topography

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Abstract

Direct Numerical Simulations are employed to investigate the mixing dynamics of turbidity currents interacting with seamounts of various heights. The mixing properties are found to be governed by the competing effects of turbulence amplification and enhanced dissipation due to the three-dimensional topography. In addition, particle settling is seen to play an important role as well, as it affects the local density stratification, and hence the stability, of the current. The interplay of these different mechanisms results in the non-monotonic dependence of the mixing behavior on the height of the seamount. Regions of dilute lock fluid concentration generally mix more intensely as a result of the seafloor topography, while concentrated lock fluid remains relatively unaffected. For long times, the strongest mixing occurs for intermediate bump heights. Particle settling is seen to cause turbidity currents to mix more intensely with the ambient than gravity currents.

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Acknowledgments

MN was partially funded via research support to Prof. Kneller’s group from BG Group, BP, ConocoPhillips, DONG, GDF Suez, Hess, Petrobras, RWE Dea, Total, and Statoil. EM acknowledges financial assistance through NSF Grants CBET-0854338, CBET-1067847 and OCE-1061300. The simulations were carried out at the Janus, Epic, and Beach supercomputing facilities. Janus is supported by the National Science Foundation (award number CNS-0821794) and the University of Colorado at Boulder and is a joint effort of the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Denver and the National Center for Atmospheric Research. The Epic@iVec supercomputing facility is part of the Pawsey Centre project of the iVec Institute, Australia. Access to the Beach cluster was provided by the Community Surface Dynamics Modeling System (CSDMS) high-performance computing facility at the University of Colorado in Boulder.

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  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, 93106, USA

    Mohamad M. Nasr-Azadani & Eckart Meiburg

  2. Department of Geology and Petroleum Geology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, AB24 3UE, UK

    Benjamin Kneller

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  1. Mohamad M. Nasr-Azadani
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Correspondence to Mohamad M. Nasr-Azadani.

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Nasr-Azadani, M.M., Meiburg, E. & Kneller, B. Mixing dynamics of turbidity currents interacting with complex seafloor topography. Environ Fluid Mech 18, 201–223 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10652-016-9477-9

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