Particle-driven convection occurs when a layer of fluid containing dense particles is located above a layer of clear, particle-free fluid. This can drive a variation on the classical Rayleigh-Taylor instability, where the particles induce the density difference between the layers. Variants of this instability occur in a number of geophysical flows, such as the undersides
Ten years ago, the Paris COP conference heralded an exceptional meeting to tackle climate change, backed by science, and soon embraced by industry. Much has been achieved, particularly in electrification through the explosive growth of renewables and EVs. However, the original optimism now risks stalling in much of the world as the reality of displacing
Large-scale storage technologies are crucial to balance consumption and intermittent production of renewable energy. At times of excess production, some renewable energy might be converted into compressed air or hydrogen, which is then stored in underground salt caverns. The energy is recovered later, when renewable production becomes insufficient. Herminio Tasinafo Honorio, from Delft University of
Wave breaking occurs at the ocean surface at moderate to high wind speeds, with significant impacts on the transfer of momentum, energy and mass between the ocean and the atmosphere. When waves break, the water surface overturns: this generates bubbles and sea spray and largely enhances the gas exchange. Stéphane Popinet, from the Institut d’Alembert
The accurate modelling of geophysical flows often requires information which is difficult to measure and therefore poorly quantified. For example, it is difficult to estimate the viscosity of lava during a volcanic eruption, or some of the properties of the ice flowing within a glacier. However, when the flow is bounded by a free surface,
Just before the beginning of term, professor Weiwei Zhu from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences visited us and presented his recent work on Fracture Network connectivity in geological formations. Fractures are ubiquitous in crustal rocks due to the harsh environment of the deep subsurface and the inherent brittleness
Jason Furtney was a student at the Institute in the early 2000s, after studying geology at Edinburgh University. Since then, he has been working as a consulting engineer for Itasca International, a geomechanics consulting and software company in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Today, Jason was back in Cambridge and gave a special seminar at the Institute. He
Dr Quentin Kriaa is a new Assistant Professor in Climate and Environmental Fluid Dynamics, and he joined the Institute at the beginning of Easter term. Today, he presented some of his recent research on particle clouds. At a late stage of its accretion, the Earth experienced high-energy planetary impacts. Following each collision, it is estimated
Prof Mahesh Tirumkudulu from the Indian Institute of Technology in Bombay has developed a unique method to measure the viscosity of a drop of liquid based on the fluid mechanics of thin films. A drop of liquid is spread over a substrate by contacting a blade with the drop and moving the blade across the
Large lakes tend to be thermally stratified, with a layer of relatively warm water near the surface, and a deeper layer of colder water underneath. The temperature of the surface water fluctuates over the year, while the temperature of the deeper water remains more stable: hence, the thermal stratification is strongest during the summer, when