Open AccessOn the mixing of sea water by turbulence
Author(s) -
J. Proudman
Publication year - 1948
Publication title -
proceedings of the royal society of london. series a, mathematical and physical sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.814
H-Index - 135
eISSN - 2053-9169
pISSN - 0080-4630
DOI - 10.1098/rspa.1948.0120
Subject(s) - turbulence , mixing (physics) , diffusion , eddy diffusion , turbulent diffusion , distribution (mathematics) , interval (graph theory) , salinity , physics , statistical physics , mechanics , mathematics , mathematical analysis , thermodynamics , geology , oceanography , quantum mechanics , combinatorics
The theory of diffusion by continuous movements, due to Sir Geoffrey Taylor, is applied to the variations, both in time and space, of the distribution of salinity in the sea. It is assumed (4·40) that the correlation between certain quantities depending on the turbulence at one instant and other quantities depending on the turbulence at a subsequent instant are zero, if these instants are separated by more than a certain minimum interval of time. Formulae are derived for the distribution of salinity at one time in terms of the distribution at an earlier time (4·50), and for the time rate of transport of mass of salt (4·60). It is a consequence of these formulae that the coefficients of eddy diffusion, as usually defined, do not, in general, depend only on the state of turbulence, but depend also on the distribution of salinity. In certain simple cases, however, the coefficients of eddy diffusion do depend only on the turbulence. Such a case is provided by the central region of the Irish Sea, and the theory is applied to estimate the mean current through this region (§ 5·1)