

FOLLOWUS
1.School of Marine Sciences, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing 210044, China
2.Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), Zhuhai 519000, China
3.College of Ocean Science and Engineering, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266590, China
4.South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510070, China
5.School of Atmospheric Science and Remote Sensing, Wuxi University, Wuxi 214105, China
6.First Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Qingdao 266061, China
7.Laboratory for Regional Oceanography and Numerical Modeling, Pilot National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology (Qingdao), Qingdao 266237, China
cmdong@nuist.edu.cn
Received:21 March 2024,
Published:01 July 2025
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CAO Qian,DONG Changming,GAO Xiaoqian,et al.A numerical study of the three-dimensional flow field with convectively unstable processes[J].Journal of Oceanology and Limnology,2025,43(04):1056-1074.
CAO Qian,DONG Changming,GAO Xiaoqian,et al.A numerical study of the three-dimensional flow field with convectively unstable processes[J].Journal of Oceanology and Limnology,2025,43(04):1056-1074. DOI: 10.1007/s00343-024-4093-x.
Convectively unstable processes caused by dense water subsidence are common occurrences in high-latitude oceanic regions
and significantly modulate mass and heat transport and mixing processes in the ocean. An idealized numerical experiment using the large eddy simulation method was conducted to analyze the three-dimensional flow field structure and the mechanism for dense water subsidence. Specifically
a negative salt flux is set at the sea surface
in which salt flux enters the sea surface to simulate the icing and salting-out phenomena that occur at high latitudes. Results show that the mean-state 3D flow field of dense water subsidence exhibits a hollow conical distribution. The horizontal flow field is characterized by a cyclonic vortex that driven primarily by the pressure gradient and influenced by the Coriolis effect. Moreover
the inverse vertical pressure gradient generated by this vortex inhibits the sinking of the plume
leading to its off-axis deflection and the development of an anticyclonic precession. In addition
the impact of rotation on the structure of a sinking plume within a stratified environment is discussed. Both horizontal vortex intensity and cone angle of the hollow cone flow field are increased with increasing rotation rate
resulting in a decrease in the plume’s maximum sinking depth. Variances in rotation direction cause the horizontal vortex and sinking plumes of dense water in the northern and southern hemispheres to rotate in opposite directions.
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