Detailed current profiles between the sediment-water interface
and 20 cm above it reveal a viscous sublayer in the bottom boundary
layer on the Oregon continental shelf. Data from three field experiments
are used to test fundamental assumptions about boundary layer
flow in the ocean. The first study, discussed in Chapter 1, evaluates
the hypothesis that, in the absence of the obvious influence of
topographic irregularities, the flow behaves like a universally
similar, neutrally-buoyant flow over a smooth wall. The second
study, discussed in Chapter 2, evaluates the influence which irregular
small-scale topography may have on the near-bed flow, while the
third, discussed in Chapter 3, examines streamwise velocity fluctuations
in the viscous Sublayer and buffer layer and evaluates the
hypothesis that spectra from the viscous sublayer and buffer layer of
laboratory and geophysical boundary layer flows can be reduced to
universal forms.
although the thickness of the viscous sublayer scales with v/u,
as required by universal similarity, the non-dimensional sublayer
thickness is not as constant as in neutrally-buoyant laboratory
flows. Even in the absence of the obvious effects of bottom irregularities,
the near-bed flow is not as simple as smooth-walled boundarylayer
flows in the laboratory. In the second study, it is shown that
when the near-bed flow experiences resistance due to form drag as
well as skin friction, the constant stress boundary layer assumption
is not valid close to the sediment-water interface. Th the third
study, it is shown that non-dimensionalized spectra of streamwise
velocity fluctuations in the viscous sublayer and buffer layer at the
ocean floor are very similar to those found in the laboratory. / Graduation date: 1982
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/28118 |
| Date | 04 September 1981 |
| Creators | Chriss, Terry Michael |
| Contributors | Caldwell, D. R. |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
Page generated in 0.003 seconds