Connotea
CiteULike
del.ico.us
BibSonomyAbstract
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH,
VOL. 111,
C04006,
13 PP., 2006
doi:10.1029/2004JC002827
Boundary flow on a lake slope during Ekman layer arrest
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Davis, California, USA
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Davis, California, USA
The disruption of an arrested bottom Ekman layer on a lake boundary slope is initiated when buoyancy enters the balance between the Coriolis force and the pressure gradient. This process is shown to behave in a lake in a qualitatively similar manner to the ocean. A greater bottom slope and stronger stratification are found to dramatically shorten the shutdown timescale of the Ekman flux compared to typical values on the continental shelf and slope. Convergence of the flow at the density front, where the thermocline intersects the bottom, leads to a detrainment of bottom boundary layer water into the interior of the lake and thus facilitates the transport of mass and heat independent of turbulence generation in the boundary layer by internal wave interactions. Internal waves complicate the flow structure. The boundary water detrainment and gravitational instability due to Ekman layer dynamics and the critical reflection and vertical overturns associated with the internal waves combine in effective boundary mixing.
Received 30 November 2004; accepted 27 December 2005; published 13 April 2006.
Citation: (2006), Boundary flow on a lake slope during Ekman layer arrest, J. Geophys. Res., 111, C04006, doi:10.1029/2004JC002827.
Cited By