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A minimal Maxey–Riley model for the drift of Sargassum rafts

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 October 2020

F. J. Beron-Vera Open the ORCID record for F. J. Beron-Vera [Opens in a new window]  and
P. Miron Open the ORCID record for P. Miron [Opens in a new window]
F. J. Beron-Vera*
Affiliation:
Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA
P. Miron
Affiliation:
Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA
*
†Email address for correspondence: fberon@miami.edu
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Abstract

Inertial particles (i.e. with mass and of finite size) immersed in a fluid in motion are unable to adapt their velocities to the carrying flow and thus they have been the subject of much interest in fluid mechanics. In this paper we consider an ocean setting with inertial particles elastically connected forming a network that floats at the interface with the atmosphere. The network evolves according to a recently derived and validated Maxey–Riley equation for inertial particle motion in the ocean. We rigorously show that, under sufficiently calm wind conditions, rotationally coherent quasigeostrophic vortices (which have material boundaries that resist outward filamentation) always possess finite-time attractors for elastic networks if they are anticyclonic, while if they are cyclonic provided that the networks are sufficiently stiff. This result is supported numerically under more general wind conditions and, most importantly, is consistent with observations of rafts of pelagic Sargassum, for which the elastic inertial networks represent a minimal model. Furthermore, our finding provides an effective mechanism for the long range transport of Sargassum, and thus for its connectivity between accumulation regions and remote sources.

JFM classification

Mixing: Chaotic advection Geophysical and Geological Flows: Ocean processes
Type
JFM Papers
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 904 , 10 December 2020 , A8
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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References

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