Lelong OCE-9521275 A series of numerical studies (using a pseudo-spectral model) will be conducted to assess the role of vortical motions in the dynamics of the oceanic fine scale variability. The proposed work is divided into four tasks: (1) simulation of the breakdown of a near-inertial wave packet in a mean shear as a source of three-dimensional (3D) microscale turbulence; (2) study of the generation of a nonlinear component of vortical motion resulting from the decay of a 3D microscale turbulence event; (3) study of the 2D nature of stratified turbulence; and, (4) calculation of an effective horizontal diffusivity for a passive ocean tracer in the presence of small scale vortical motions.
