Oceans: Boundary Mixing
Researchers: Professor Andy Woods and Scott Li
Our Work
Recent research at the IEEF has focussed on the possible role of boundary mixing in the Ocean. In two papers by Li and Woods (2023, 2024) we have explored the flow which develops when there is an anomalous level of mixing near one boundary of a laboratory tank. The experiments illustrate that the mixing and upwelling tend to be focussed in the region of high turbulent mixing, and we are presently exploring the potential relevance of this for deep ocean mixing .
Other research has been exploring the possible impacts of boundary mixing or mixing produced by different levels of turbulence through the ocean. New laboratory experiments together with quantitative models have identified how the vertical flow driven transport may vary in space according to the intensity of the turbulence (e.g. Li and Woods 2022 a,b).

Experiment comparing boundary mixing in a laboratory tank, where the interior remains relatively passive (red dye lines) and the boundary involves very intense vertical mixing. From Li and Woods 2023.
Publications
Li SW, Woods AW. Boundary mixing. Part 1. Transport of buoyancy and passive tracer. Journal of Fluid Mechanics. 2023;976:A23. doi:10.1017/jfm.2023.796
Li SW, Woods AW. Boundary mixing. Part 2. The impact of ventilation. Journal of Fluid Mechanics. 2024;985:A24. doi:10.1017/jfm.2024.111