We present a new adaptive control strategy to isolate and stabilize turbulent states in transitional, stably stratified plane Couette flow in which the gravitational acceleration (non-dimensionalized as the bulk Richardson ...

The mixing properties of statically stable density interfaces subject to imposed vertical shear are studied using direct numerical simulations of stratified plane Couette flow. The simulations are designed to investigate ...

When phytoplankton growth is limited by low nutrient concentrations, full-depth-integrated phytoplankton biomass increases in response to intermittent mixing events that bring nutrient-rich waters into the sunlit surface ...

Submesoscale dynamics play a key role in setting the stratification of the ocean surface mixed layer and mediating air–sea exchange, making them especially relevant to anthropogenic carbon uptake and primary productivity ...

A series of idealized numerical models have been developed to investigate the effects of partially resolved symmetric instability (SI) in oceanic general circulation models. An analysis of the energetics of symmetric instability ...

The Miles-Howard theorem states that a necessary condition for normal-mode instability in parallel, inviscid, steady stratified shear flows is that the minimum gradient Richardson number, $Ri_{g,min}$, is less than 1/4 ...

A parameterization is proposed for the effects of symmetric instability (SI) on a resolved front. The parameterization is dependent on external forcing by surface buoyancy loss and/or down-front winds, which reduce potential ...

We present a new robust method for identifying three dynamically distinct regions in a stratified turbulent flow, which we characterise as quiescent flow, intermittent layers and turbulent patches. The method uses the ...

We investigate fully developed turbulence in stratified plane Couette flows using direct numerical simulations similar to those reported by Deusebio et al. (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 781, 2015, pp. 298-329) expanding the range ...

A simple analytical model is presented describing the spontaneous generation of inertia–gravity waves at density fronts subjected to strong horizontal strain rates. The model considers fronts of arbitrary horizontal and ...

In nutrient-limited conditions, phytoplankton growth at fronts is enhanced by winds, which drive upward nutrient fluxes via enhanced turbulent mixing and upwelling. Hence, depth-integrated phytoplankton biomass can be 10 ...

We use two-dimensional direct numerical simulations of Boussinesq stratified shear layers to investigate the influence of the minimum gradient Richardson number Rim on the early time evolution of Kelvin–Helmholtz instability ...

High-resolution large-eddy simulations are used to study the influence of submesoscale mixed layer instability and small-scale turbulence on phytoplankton growth in light-limited conditions. Four simulations are considered ...