3D Turbulence

Abstract

This article describes turbulence in geophysical fluids. While examples focus on oceanic applications, the theory applies equally well to lakes, rivers and the atmosphere. We do not consider the effects of the Earth's rotation. We begin with the classical picture of stationary, homogeneous, isotropic turbulence. We then discuss departures from this idealized state found in small-scale geophysical flows, especially the effects of gravity and sheared mean flows. We tour of some of the many physical regimes in which ocean turbulence has been observed, and end with a brief discussion of numerical modeling.