Layer formation in sedimentary fingering convection

DOI10.1017/JFM.2017.26zbMATH Open1383.76506arXiv1610.04183OpenAlexW2538646408MaRDI QIDQ5364598FDOQ5364598

Authors: J. F. Reali, P. Garaud, A. Alsinan, Eckart Meiburg 

Publication date: 28 September 2017

Published in: Journal of Fluid Mechanics (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: When particles settle through a stable temperature or salinity gradient they can drive an instability known as sedimentary fingering convection. This phenomenon is thought to occur beneath sediment-rich river plumes in lakes and oceans, in the context of marine snow where decaying organic materials serve as the suspended particles, or in the atmosphere in the presence of aerosols or volcanic ash. Laboratory experiments of Houk and Green (1973) and Green (1987) have shown sedimentary fingering convection to be similar to the more commonly known thermohaline fingering convection in many ways. Here, we study the phenomenon using 3D direct numerical simulations. We find evidence for layer formation in sedimentary fingering convection in regions of parameter space where it does not occur for non-sedimentary systems. This is due to two complementary effects. Sedimentation affects the turbulent fluxes and broadens the region of parameter space unstable to the $gamma$-instability (Radko 2003) to include systems at larger density ratios. It also gives rise to a new layering instability that exists in $gamma-$stable regimes. The former is likely quite ubiquitous in geophysical systems for sufficiently large settling velocities, while the latter probably grows too slowly to be relevant, at least in the context of sediments in water.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/1610.04183

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zbMATH Keywords

double diffusive convectionsediment transportparticle/fluid flows

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Free convection (76R10) Suspensions (76T20) Direct numerical and large eddy simulation of turbulence (76F65)

Cites Work

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Cited In (6)

• Formation of drops and rings in double-diffusive sedimentation
• Settling-driven large-scale instabilities in double-diffusive convection
• The influence of shear on double-diffusive and settling-driven instabilities
• A settling-driven instability in two-component, stably stratified fluids
• Formation of an interface by competitive erosion
• Settling-driven instability in two-component stably stratified Hele-Shaw flows

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