Flow Over Ridges and Seamounts:
Flow
Rectification at an Ocean Spreading Center Problem
Description: The topography of mid-ocean ridge systems and seamounts increase the complexity of ocean currents. Those currents, in turn, advect hydrothermal geochemicals away from vent fields into the distal ocean. Current measurements at Juan de Fuca Ridge show that mean flow occurs in opposite direction each side of the ridge to normal distances of several tens of kilometers. Rectification of periodic flow is one possible causal mechanism. This study seeks to examine that possibility while laying the foundation for investigating along and off-axis transport of hydrothermal plumes.
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Related Papers: Lavelle, J.W., E.T. Baker, and G.A. Cannon (2003): Ocean currents at Axial Volcano, a northeastern Pacific seamount. J. Geophys. Res., 108(C2), 10.1029/2002JC001305. Lavelle, J.W. and G.A. Cannon (2001): On sub-inertial oscillations trapped by the Juan de Fuca Ridge, Northeast Pacific. J. Geophys. Res., 106(C12), 31,099-31,116.
Buoyant
Plumes in Cross Flows Cannon, G.A., and R.E. Thomson (1996): Characteristics of 4-day oscillations trapped by the Juan de Fuca Ridge. Geophysical Research Letters, 23(13), 1613-1616. Cannon, G.A., and D.J. Pashinski (1997): Variations in mean currents affecting hydrothermal plumes on the Juan de Fuca Ridge. Journal of Geophysical Research, 102, 24,965-24,976. Geochemical Transport
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Modeling focuses: Chronic focused-source | Event Plumes | Axial Valley transport | Ridge Flow | Geochemical Transport | Hydrographic-Tracer Relationships | ||