TITLE:

THE EFFECT OF BATHYMETRIC PROFILE ON THE STRUCTURE OF COASTAL OCEAN UPWELLING

DATE:

Friday, Dec 2nd, 2011

TIME:

3:30 PM

LOCATION:

GMCS 214

SPEAKER:

Paul Choboter.
Department of Mathematics.
Cal Poly State University.

ABSTRACT:

Joseph Pedlosky’s dynamical model of coastal ocean upwelling is elegantly simple, yet complex enough to possess rich and subtle dynamics. This model continues to generate new insights into the dynamics of upwelling. We will discuss the effect of the bathymetric profile on the structure of velocity and density during upwelling, based on solutions to the Pedlosky model, with comparisons to numerical simulations. When the bathymetric profile has positive curvature, the deep onshore-directed flow is surface-intensified. When the bathymetric profile has negative curvature, such as over a continental shelf break, the deep onshore flow is bottom-intensified. For negative curvature of sufficient magnitude, the dynamical model solutions exhibit features of an “obstacle problem”, which is a free-boundary problem that arises in the study of elliptic partial differential equations. These features make the problem challenging to solve, either analytically or numerically. We will discuss recent progress toward solving the problem.

HOST:

Dr. Jose Castillo.

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