Modeling the dynamical sinking of biogenic particles in oceanic flow
نویسندگان
چکیده
We study the problem of sinking particles in a realistic oceanic flow, with major energetic structures in the mesoscale, focussing in the range of particle sizes and densities appropriate for marine biogenic particles. Our aim is to evaluate the relevance of theoretical results of finite size particle dynamics in their applications in the oceanographic context. By using a simplified equation of motion of small particles in a mesoscale simulation of the oceanic velocity field, we estimate the influence of physical processes such as the Coriolis force and the inertia of the particles, and we conclude that they represent 5 negligible corrections to the most important terms, which are passive motion with the velocity of the flow, and a constant added vertical velocity due to gravity. Even if within this approximation three-dimensional clustering of particles can not occur, two-dimensional cuts or projections of the evolving three-dimensional density can display inhomogeneities similar to the ones observed in sinking ocean particles.
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Interactive comment on “Modeling the dynamical sinking of biogenic particles in oceanic flow” by
The manuscript "Modeling the dynamical sinking of biologenic particles in oceanic flow" presents an interesting study of particle sedimentation in realistic oceanic flows. In particular, it focuses in a simplified dynamics accounting for gravitational settling and also scrutinizes the effect of additional terms such as that due to Coriolis force (accounting for rotation) and inertial terms. The...
متن کاملInteractive comment on “Modeling the dynamical sinking of biogenic particles in oceanic flow” by Pedro Monroy et al
We acknowledge Referee 2 for the careful reading and detailed comments. Referee 2 states that the manuscript “is well-written and the topic is of clear interest both for the physical and biological oceanography communities”. However, he/she gives a series of concerns that should be addressed to improve quality and clarity. We report in the following detailed point-by-point responses, together w...
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