PRELIMINARY RESULTS OF EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF BOTTOM LAYER DYNAMICS AT SHELF-CONTINENTAL SLOPE ZONE OF THE BLACK SEA

The preliminary results of an experimental study of a mechanism of the Black Sea anoxic layer ventilation related with the descent of oxygen-containing water down the bottom slope in Ekman boundary layer are presented. To study this mechanism, several automatic measuring stations were installed at the bottom of the shelf-continental slope zone in the depth range from 80 to 243 m, on the cross-section abeam of the Gelendzhik Bay. The observations that lasted for 1.5–2 months were fulfilled during two periods in the beginning and the end of 2018. The stations were registering hydrophysical (temperature, salinity, pressure and current velocity) and hydrochemical (dissolved oxygen concentration) parameters at a 0.5–2.5 m distance from the bottom. The acquired data are suitable for estimation of spatio-temporal parameters of water transfer in the bottom layer up and down the slope, depending on direction and intensity of alongshore current. Preliminary analysis of the first installation data confirmed the presence of bottom water transfer along the slope perpendicular to the shore. Also, in case of intense alongshore north-western current, a descent of the bottom layer water was observed. Such manner of water transfer conforms to both geostrophic adjustment and dynamics of the bottom Ekman boundary layer. However, variability of water density in the bottom layer, caused by vertical water transport, had about the same range as density fluctuations in the water column on the same depths. This fact disputes the effectiveness of Ekman transfer in the bottom layer as a water ventilation mechanism for the upper part of continental slope of the Black Sea (Zatsepin et al., 2007; Elkin, Zatsepin, 2017).

Large-Eddy Simulation Study of Log Laws in a Neutral Ekman Boundary Layer

The characteristics of wind profiles in a neutral atmospheric boundary layer and their dependence on the geostrophic wind speed Ug, Coriolis parameter f, and surface roughness length z0 are examined utilizing large-eddy simulations. These simulations produce a constant momentum flux layer and a log-law layer above the surface characterized by a logarithmic increase of wind speed with height. The von Kármán constant derived from the mean wind profile is around 0.4 over a wide range of control parameters. The depths of the simulated boundary layer, constant-flux layer, and surface log-law layer tend to increase with the wind speed and decrease with an increasing Coriolis parameter. Immediately above the surface log-law layer, a second log-law layer has been identified from these simulations. The depth of this upper log-law layer is comparable to its counterpart in the surface layer, and the wind speed can be scaled as , as opposed to just in the surface log-law layer, implying that in addition to surface processes, the upper log-law layer is also influenced by Earth’s rotation and large-scale conditions. Here is the friction velocity at the surface, and h is the boundary layer depth. An analytical model is proposed to assist in the interpretation of the log laws in a typical Ekman boundary layer. The physics and implications of the upper log-law layer are discussed.

Heat transfer in rotating Rayleigh–Bénard convection with rough plates

This experimental study focuses on the effect of horizontal boundaries with pyramid-shaped roughness elements on the heat transfer in rotating Rayleigh–Bénard convection. It is shown that the Ekman pumping mechanism, which is responsible for the heat transfer enhancement under rotation in the case of smooth top and bottom surfaces, is unaffected by the roughness as long as the Ekman layer thickness $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FF}_{E}$ is significantly larger than the roughness height $k$. As the rotation rate increases, and thus $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FF}_{E}$ decreases, the roughness elements penetrate the radially inward flow in the interior of the Ekman boundary layer that feeds the columnar Ekman vortices. This perturbation generates additional thermal disturbances which are found to increase the heat transfer efficiency even further. However, when $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FF}_{E}\approx k$, the Ekman boundary layer is strongly perturbed by the roughness elements and the Ekman pumping mechanism is suppressed. The results suggest that the Ekman pumping is re-established for $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FF}_{E}\ll k$ as the faces of the pyramidal roughness elements then act locally as a sloping boundary on which an Ekman layer can be formed.

Estimation of Eddy Viscosity Profile in the Bottom Ekman Boundary Layer

Previous studies have shown that strong tidal currents can cause intense turbulent mixing near the seafloor in continental shelf areas. To quantify the turbulent mixing, the eddy viscosity coefficient is generally used. In this study, an estimation scheme is proposed to evaluate the eddy viscosity profile (EVP) in the bottom Ekman boundary layer based on the adjoint method. The estimation scheme is composed of the bottom Ekman boundary layer model and its adjoint model, and a minimization algorithm. The feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed scheme are validated by a series of twin experiments, where the proposed scheme is compared with three other schemes in previous studies. When large measurement errors exist, the proposed scheme performs better than the three other schemes. When large Ekman balance errors exist, the proposed scheme is better than two of the other schemes. The selection of components of the steady current and tidal constituents also influences the performance of the proposed scheme. Successful estimation of the EVP requires the usage of intense components of the steady current and tidal constituents. With the usage of the intense components, increasing the number of tidal constituents cannot lead to a more accurate estimation of the EVP.