Nonhydrostatic waves and instabilities in rotating fluids

This project will focus on the fundamental dynamics of rotating turbulent fluids. The proposed research is based on recent measurements which demonstrate that large-scale, balanced flows may directly generate small-scale inertia gravity waves. Importantly, these waves may be unstable, allowing direct transfer of large-scale energy into small-scale turbulent mixing. This is an energy pathway that is normally omitted from analyses of ocean energetics, and may have a profound impact on our understanding of the mechanisms driving the oceanic overturning circulation