Research in Physical Oceanography

Ecosystem Modeling

The annual cycle of biological activity in the Arabian Sea is under study. Modellers are attempting to illustrate some of the fundamental interactions between biology and the physical environment in the region.

Competing Deep Water Formation Sources in Global Thermohaline Circulation

In understanding the global thermohaline flow, it is useful to consider single and multiple oceans in which deep water can potentially form in more than one hemisphere or, indeed, in more than one basin. We are using numerical models to investigate how the strength of such "competing sources" is set by boundary conditions and influenced by the basin geometry and by nonlinearities in the equation of state of seawater.

Buoyant discharge on the shelf in the presence of transient currents: nonlinear interaction, adjustment, mixing.

The interaction of buoyant coastal plumes and transient (subinertial) wind driven currents is being studied using numerical modeling. The study is focused on the following effects which were previously observed in the field: (i) amplification of the transient currents in the buoyant layer; (ii) mixing and offshore spreading of buoyant plume by the transient currents; (iii) formation of frontal zone with the enhanced density gradient and vertical shear in the presence of transient currents.

Alexander Soloviev (Ph.D., P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology) : Primary interests are in research of turbulence in the wave-enhanced surface layer of the ocean, spatial anisotropy of wind stress effects in the warm pool area, and parameterization of the air-sea gas exchange.