Upwelling by a wave pump

Abstract

A rigid open-ended pipe is submerged in the ocean below the troughs of the surface waves and held fixed in the vertical position, the lower end being at or below the depth of wave influence. When surface gravity waves propagate past the pipe, water flows up as long as waves are present. The steady upward vertical velocity in the center of the pipe is calculated to be proportional to the square of both the average wave steepness and the pipe’s radius. An application is to bring nutrient rich waters up into the sunlit surface layers of the open oceans.