Acoustic measurements of vertical velocity and temperature fluctuations of a hydrothermal plume with comparisons to large eddy simulations

Abstract

The acoustic scintillation method is used to study the hydrothermal plume of Dante within the Main Endeavour vent field (MEF) at the Endeavour segment of the Juan de Fuca Ridge. Forty days of vertical velocity and temperature fluctuations were obtained from the rising plume above the Dante edifice in an environment where the flow is dominated by strong (5cm/s) semi-diurnal tidal currents and a northerly mean residual current (3cm/s). These acoustic measurements provide a window on deep-sea hydrothermal plume dynamics in strong oscillatory cross flows. A large eddy simulation, parameterized with anisotropic mixing coefficients, taking into account ambient stratification and time-dependent background flows and calibrated by the acoustic measurements, yields insight into turbulent processes, entrainment, plume bending, rise height, and, inferentially, mound heat flux. The turbulent dissipation rates for kinetic energy (ε) and thermal variance (εθ) is approximated by computing the Reynolds averaged sub-grid scale turbulent production from shear and buoyancy (ε = P-B) and from temperature fluxes (εθ = Pθ), respectively, which are needed to compare to the acoustic derived turbulence levels. A new cabled observatory reciprocal acoustic scintillation system on the NEPTUNE observatory that will allow real time measurements of mean and turbulent flow of a hydrothermal plume will also be introduced.