Buoyancy is one of the main forces driving flows on our planet, especially in the oceans and atmosphere. These flows range from buoyant coastal currents to dense overflows in the ocean, and from avalanches to volcanic pyroclastic flows on the Earth's surface. This book brings together contributions by leading world scientists to summarize our present theoretical, observational, experimental and modeling understanding of buoyancy-driven flows. Buoyancy-driven currents play a key role in the global ocean circulation and in climate variability through their impact on deep-water formation. Buoyancy-driven currents are also primarily responsible for the redistribution of fresh water throughout the world's oceans. This book is an invaluable resource for advanced students and researchers in oceanography, geophysical fluid dynamics, atmospheric science and the wider Earth sciences who need a state-of-the-art reference on buoyancy-driven flows.
• Consolidates the current research on buoyancy-driven flows from observational, theoretical, experimental and numerical modeling perspectives • Covers a wide spectrum of geophysical flows: ocean, atmosphere, avalanches and volcanoes • Consists of a series of lectures on buoyancy-driven flows by leading world scientists • Valuable for interdisciplinary research and collaborations throughout the earth and climate sciences
Contents
1. Gravity currents: theory and laboratory Paul Linden; 2. Theory of oceanic buoyancy-driven flows Joseph Pedlosky; 3. Buoyancy-forced circulation and downwelling in marginal seas Michael Spall; 4. Buoyant coastal currents Steve Lentz; 5. Overflows and convectively driven flows Sonya Legg; 6. An ocean climate modeling perspective on buoyancy-driven flows William Large; 7. Buoyancy-driven flows in eddying ocean models Anne Marie Tréguier, Bruno Ferron and Raphael Dussin; 8. Atmospheric buoyancy-driven flows Sylvie Malardel; 9. Volcanic flows Andy Woods; 10. Gravity flow on a steep slope Christophe Ancey.
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