Open questions in turbulent stratified mixing: Do we even know what we do not know?

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• C. P. Caulfield, BPI and DAMTP
• Thursday 23 April 2020, 11:30-12:30
• Open Plan Area, BP Institute, Madingley Rise CB3 0EZ.

If you have a question about this talk, please contact Catherine Pearson.

Understanding how turbulence leads to the enhanced irreversible transport of heat and other scalars (such as salt and pollutants) in density-stratified fluids is a fundamental and central problem in geophysical and environmental fluid dynamics. There is a wide range of highly important applications, not least the description and parameterization of diapycnal transport in the world’s oceans, a key area of uncertainty in climate modelling. Recently, due not least to the proliferation of data obtained through direct observation, numerical simulation and laboratory experimentation, there has been an explosion in research activity directed at improving community understanding, modelling and parameterization of the subtle interplay between energy conversion pathways, turbulence, and irreversible mixing in density-stratified fluids. However, as I will discuss in this talk, there are still leading order open questions and areas of profound uncertainty concerning turbulent stratified mixing. Therefore, I will present a personal perspective on some priorities for further research into this hugely complex, important and fascinating fluid dynamical challenge.

This talk is part of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Flows (IEEF) series.

This talk is included in these lists:

• All Talks (aka the CURE list)
• Cambridge Energy Seminars
• Department of Earth Sciences seminars
• Institute for Energy and Environmental Flows (IEEF)
• NanoDTC Energy Materials Talks
• Open Plan Area, BP Institute, Madingley Rise CB3 0EZ
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