Laboratory experiments are performed to examine the sedimentation of particles that initially rise in a plume, then spread radially and settle in uniformly stratified fluid. Using light attenuation, the depth of the sediment bed is measured nonintrusively as a function of radius from the center of the plume. To gain some insight into these dynamics, an idealized model is developed by adapting w...

Iceland is located where the asthenosperic flow under the the NE Atlantic plate boundary interacts and mixes with a deep-seated mantle plume. The buoyancy of the Iceland plume leads to dynamic uplift of the Iceland plateau, and high volcanic productivity over the plume produces a thick crust. (Fig.1). The Greenland-Færöy ridge represents the Icland plume track through the history of the NE Atla...

[1] Data collected from the near-field region (first several kilometers) of the Merrimack River plume are analyzed to provide estimates of turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) dissipation rates. Measurement techniques included a control volume method incorporating density and velocity survey data, and direct dissipation rate measurements by turbulence sensors mounted on an autonomous underwater vehic...

This paper describes how measurements of the movement of identifiable features at the edge of a turbulent plume can be interpreted to determine the properties of the mean flow and consequently, using plume theory, can be used to make estimates of the fluxes of volume (mass), momentum and buoyancy in a plume. This means that video recordings of smoke rising from a chimney or buoyant material fro...

Stormwater discharges from Chollas Creek, a tributary of San Diego Bay, have been shown to be toxic to aquatic life. The primary objective of this study was to provide the linkage between in-channel measurements and potential impairments in the receiving waters of San Diego Bay. This study addressed this objective within the context of four questions: (1) How much area in San Diego Bay is affec...

The chemical evolution of the exhaust plumes of ocean-going ships in the cloud-free marine boundary layer is examined with a box model. Dilution of the ship plume via entrainment of background air was treated as in studies of aircraft emissions and was found to be a very important process that significantly alters model results. We estimated the chemical lifetime (defined as the time when diffe...

Increased mass losses from the Greenland ice sheet and inferred contributions to sea-level rise have heightened the need for hydrologic observations of meltwater exiting the ice sheet. We explore whether temporal variations in ice-sheet surface hydrology can be linked to the development of a downstream sediment plume in Kangerlussuaq Fjord by comparing: (1) plume area and suspended sediment con...

[1] The trace of the Snake River–Yellowstone hot spot is the world’s best example of a mantle plume that has been overridden by continental lithosphere. The ‘‘standard model’’ calls for the plume head to rise under northern Nevada and be forced northward to form basalts of the Columbia Plateau; subsequent movement of North America to the southwest over the plume tail created a hot spot trace on...

Semianalytical solutions are developed for turbulent hydrogen-air plume. We derived analytical expressions for plume centerline variables radius, velocity, and density deficit in terms of a single universal function, called plume function. By combining the obtained analytical expressions of centerline variables with empirical Gaussian expressions of the mean variables, we obtain semianalytical ...

River plume fronts off NW Iberia during autumn 2002 are examined based on the gradient of the mixed layer depth (MLD) in threedimensional model data and on sea surface temperature gradients in Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) imagery. The method reveals new aspects of the dynamics of fronts in the area. The strong gradient of the MLD between the plume and the adjacent ocean serv...