Lateral Straining Research Articles

The Role of Tide and Wind in Modulating Density Stratification in the Pearl River Estuary during the Dry Season

Density stratification plays a crucial role in estuarine hydrodynamics and material transport. In this study, we utilized a well-calibrated numerical model to investigate the stratification processes and underlying mechanisms in the dynamically wide Pearl River Estuary (PRE). In the upper estuary, longitudinal straining governs stratification, enhancing it during ebb tide and reducing it during flood tide. The Coriolis force becomes significant in the lower estuary due to the increased basin width, causing seaward freshwater to be confined to the West Shoal, where a pronounced transverse salinity gradient forms. Interacting with lateral current shear, density stratification is most pronounced in this region. The prevailing northeasterly wind creates a mixed layer near the surface, shifting stratification to the middle layer of the water column in the upper estuary. Wind stirring reduces stratification throughout the estuary. Under the wind’s influence, the seaward outflow is confined to a narrower region and shifts westward, resulting in the most apparent stratification occurring on the West Shoal of the PRE due to lateral straining. These findings on the evolution of freshwater pathways and their role in modulating density stratification have significant implications for other wide estuaries, such as Delaware Bay and the La Plata-Parana estuary.

Tidally-modulated stratification in a channel-shoal estuary

This study integrates field observations and numerical simulations in the Delaware Estuary. The geometry of the Delaware Estuary is similar to that of South San Francisco Bay, the German Wadden Sea, and the mouth of the Changjiang Estuary. Both the observations and model results demonstrate that the water column was stratified (Δs > 15 psu), in contrast to the prior designations of the Delaware Estuary as a “weakly-stratified” estuary (Garvine et al., 1992). This study implements the salinity variance method to qualify the contributions of different mechanisms to initiating estuarine stratification. The analysis indicates that the tendency for stratification is initialized by the interplay between tidal straining and mixing from the end of spring tides. Although the longitudinal straining decreases during flood tides, the lateral straining contributes to a positive tendency for estuarine stratification. The lateral salinity gradient is not significant under the annual mean discharge condition. The strong vertical shear of flow and deviation from the mean salinity are favorable for the generation of lateral tidal straining. In contrast, a prior study showed that strong lateral salinity gradients enhance vertical stratification during the flood. The lateral straining at the end of the flood provides initial stratification, resulting in enhanced the longitudinal tidal straining during the early ebb due to the inhibition of turbulence and thereby enhanced tidal shear.

Design of micro‐ and macro‐scale polymeric metamaterial solutions for passive and active thermal camouflaging applications

AbstractThis work utilizes predictive modeling techniques to guide and inform metamaterial design for heat management solutions and thermal radiation control. Specifically, micro‐ and macro‐scale polyethylene‐based solutions are proposed for passive and active thermal camouflage. A micro‐scale post design is proposed for highly‐tunable infrared emissivity based on varying unit cell geometrical configurations. Actively modulating these micro‐features through lateral straining of up to 3% allows for redshifting the emissivity spectrum by up to 0.5 µm. Macro‐scale lenticular lens designs allow for a more passive form of camouflage due to its emissive stability for a range of configurations (e.g., single and sandwiched structures, increasing lens radii and height). Overall, the proposed metamaterial designs allow the tailoring of optical properties to improve thermal radiating performance.

Frontogenesis, Mixing, and Stratification in Estuarine Channels with Curvature

Abstract Idealized numerical simulations were conducted to investigate the influence of channel curvature on estuarine stratification and mixing. Stratification is decreased and tidal energy dissipation is increased in sinuous estuaries compared to straight channel estuaries. We applied a vertical salinity variance budget to quantify the influence of straining and mixing on stratification. Secondary circulation due to the channel curvature is found to affect stratification in sinuous channels through both lateral straining and enhanced vertical mixing. Alternating negative and positive lateral straining occur in meanders upstream and downstream of the bend apex, respectively, corresponding to the normal and reversed secondary circulation with curvature. The vertical mixing is locally enhanced in curved channels with the maximum mixing located upstream of the bend apex. Bend-scale bottom salinity fronts are generated near the inner bank upstream of the bend apex as a result of interaction between the secondary flow and stratification. Shear mixing at bottom fronts, instead of overturning mixing by the secondary circulation, provides the dominant mechanism for destruction of stratification. Channel curvature can also lead to increased drag, and using a Simpson number with this increased drag coefficient can relate the decrease in stratification with curvature to the broader estuarine parameter space.

On the Difference Between the Tensile Stiffness of Bulk and Slice Samples of Microstructured Materials

Many materials with a microstructure are statistically inhomogeneous, like casting skins in polymers or grain size gradients in polycrystals. It is desirable be able to account for the structural gradient. The first step is to measure the location dependent properties, for example by tensile testing of thin slices. Unfortunately, the slices properties can differ significantly from the bulk properties, since the slices lack a scale separation in one direction. For Polypropylen, we measured that Young’s modulus of the slices is approximately 70% of the respective bulk value. We have identified three significant effects, all making the slices appear softer than the bulk material: Load path confinement: The approximate plane stress forces the load path through a softer phase where in 3D-of-plane load distribution is possible.Free lateral straining: In thin slices, small regions can contract freely, while phases have to contract concurrently in the bulk. Therefore, when two phases have very different Poisson ratios, the bulk appears stiffer than a slice.Topological changes upon slicing: Interpenetrating phases in the bulk can show features of a matrix-inclusion-structure in the slices.We examine and quantify these effects in the linear elastic range for matrix-inclusion-structures and an interpenetrating-phase-structure. Some approaches on how the slice- vs bulk difference can be estimated are given.

Residual Sediment Transport in Tidally Energetic Estuarine Channels With Lateral Bathymetric Variation

AbstractThe residual sediment transport in tidally energetic estuarine channels is investigated by means of idealized cross‐sectional modeling. The lateral bathymetric variation follows a Gaussian profile, assuming longitudinal uniformity. The total along‐channel residual sediment flux is decomposed into contributions from an advective flux and a tidal pumping flux. Two important mechanisms are found to modify the tidal covariance between sediment concentration and current velocity, thereby contributing to the tidal pumping of sediment. First, longitudinal and lateral straining of salinity leads to tidal asymmetries in stratification and thus sediment resuspension. Second, lateral circulations directly redistribute suspended sediments within the cross section, which are then differentially transported by the along‐channel tidal currents. A general relationship between the phasing of the lateral circulations and the resulting lateral‐advection‐driven tidal pumping is proposed. Reduced‐physics experiments with lateral sediment advection turned off provide the first evidence that lateral‐advection‐driven tidal pumping plays a leading role in sediment transport for tidally energetic estuaries with nonnegligible lateral depth gradients. Additionally, a temporal decomposition breaks down the cross‐sectionally averaged tidal pumping flux into individual contributions from different tidal phases (early tide, peak tide, and late tide), providing a new perspective on tidal asymmetry in sediment resuspension and settling. The direction and strength of tidal pumping (both stratification‐driven and lateral‐advection‐driven) are shown to depend on lateral bathymetry, sediment grain size, and longitudinal buoyancy gradient forcing.

Hydrodynamic Response of a Floating Aquaculture Farm in a Low Inflow Estuary

AbstractThe impact of a floating oyster aquaculture farm on the intratidal dynamics of a low inflow estuary was investigated using field observations and an idealized numerical model. Measurements of current velocities, temperature, electrical conductivity, and velocity shear were collected around a floating oyster farm during two semidiurnal tidal cycles in a curved portion of the estuary. During flood, farm‐induced friction enhanced the lateral straining of velocity shears, which induced vertical mixing near the surface and extended the farm's frictional footprint. The streamwise flow reduction near the farm limited the development of lateral circulation. During ebb, flows largely bypassed the farm, which resulted in a weaker streamwise flow reduction through the farm and allowed the lateral circulation to develop across the estuary. To capture the farm effects in numerical simulations, a bulk drag coefficient for the farm was calculated as 8.4 × 10−3 ± 9.1 × 10−4, while the drag for a single cage ranged from 0.58 to 0.92. An idealized simulation in the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS) demonstrated that the limited development of lateral circulation during flood was due to farm‐imposed friction rather than the combined influence of channel‐shoal morphology and the natural channel bend. These results showed that even though a farm may encompass a small portion of the estuary, it can affect the momentum and mixing outside of the immediate farm area. Therefore, it is important to consider the hydrodynamic responses of farms in estimates of carrying capacity and siting decisions.

Observation of the sediment trapping during flood season in the deep-water navigational channel of the Changjiang Estuary, China

After the construction of the Deep-water Navigational Channel (DNC) in the North Passage of the Changjiang Estuary, siltation in the channel became severe during the flood season in the navigation channel. To investigate the causes, field observations of tidal current, salinity and suspended sediment concentration (SSC) were conducted by 16 anchored boats in the navigation channel of North Passage during spring tide in the flood season. The across-channel differences of salinity, SSC, and near bottom residual sediment transport at the high siltation area of the DNC were observed and analyzed. The results show that the near bottom SSC presented a south-to-north decreasing trend during the flood tide at the lower reach of the North Passage. During the ebb tide, a suspended sediment cloud of extremely high concentration was detected within the channel. The observed longitudinal sediment trapping was not only shown as the turbidity maximum (TM) trapped within the moving salinity front but also as the longitudinal convergence of the residual sediment transport at the middle reach. The mechanism for the longitudinal sediment trapping was due to the tidal asymmetry in mixing. The observed lateral sediment trapping was prominent at the most severe siltation area of the DNC in the section #2. The lateral sediment trapping at the across-channel section #2 was not only shown as the lateral transport of the sediments from the channel flanks during the flood slack but also as the lateral convergence of the residual sediment transport during the entire spring tidal cycle. The mechanism for the lateral sediment trapping was dominated by the advective transport. The lateral impact on the channel sediment trapping was not negligible in view of the depth-mean lateral tidal straining on the water stratification. The observed convergences of both the longitudinal and the lateral residual sediment transports were responsible for the severe channel siltation in the North Passage.

Axial Wind Effects on Stratification and Longitudinal Sediment Transport in a Convergent Estuary During Wet Season

AbstractThe Coupled Ocean‐Atmosphere‐Wave‐Sediment Transport (COAWST) modeling system was used to examine axial wind effects on vertical stratification and sediment transport in a convergent estuary. The model demonstrated that stratification dynamics in the upper estuary (Kelvin number <1; ) are dominated by longitudinal wind straining, whereas the dominant mechanism governing estuarine stratification in the lower estuary (Kelvin number ~1) is lateral wind straining. Barotropic advection contributes to seaward sediment transport and peaks during spring tides, whereas estuarine circulation causes landward sediment transport with a maximum during neap tides. Down‐estuary winds impose no obvious effects on longitudinal sediment flux, whereas up‐estuary winds contribute to enhanced seaward sediment flux by increasing the tidal oscillatory flux. The model also demonstrates that bottom friction is significantly influenced by vertical stratification over channel regions, which is indirectly affected by axial winds.

Frontogenesis at Estuarine Junctions

Observations of Newark Bay, a sub-estuary network characterized by multiple junctions, reveal that fronts are generated by tidal flow through transitions in channel geometry. All fronts substantially contribute to along-channel estuarine heterogeneity, and most are associated with both changes in channel geometry and tidal velocity phase-shifts. A lift-off front forms at the mouth of the sub-estuary during ebb tide in response to the abrupt seaward channel expansion. While forming, the front is enhanced by a tidal velocity phase-shift; flood tide persists in the main estuary until 90 min after the start of ebb tide in the sub-estuary. A second lift-off front forms during ebb tide at a channel–side-channel junction and is enhanced by a lateral baroclinic circulation induced by baroclinic and barotropic tidal velocity phase-shifts between the main channel and side channel. The lateral circulation also bifurcates the along-channel ebb flow at the surface, generating a surface front above the lift-off front. At the head of Newark Bay, a second surface front forms during ebb tide at the confluence of two tributary estuaries. This confluence front is rotated across the mouth of the primary fresh water source by high velocities from the adjacent tributary estuary and is maintained through much of ebb tide by lateral straining and mixing. Although the overall stratification of Newark Bay would categorize it as a partially mixed estuary, the fronts divide the density structure of the sub-estuary into a series of nearly homogeneous segments—a characteristic that is more often associated with fjords.

Response of Stratification Processes to Tidal Current Alteration due to Channel Narrowing and Deepening

AbstractStratification in estuaries has received much focus due to its importance in estuarine hydrodynamics and material transport. By utilizing a well‐calibrated numerical model, in this work we investigate the changes in stratification in the deepened and narrowed North Passage of the Changjiang Estuary. Before channel narrowing and deepening, lateral straining, generated by the interaction between vertical shear in lateral flow and transverse salinity gradient, is the dominant factor that controls stratification. A two‐layer structure of the lateral flow strains the isopycnal transversely, resulting in rapid stratification from late flood to early ebb tide. Thus, maximum stratification occurs during the early ebb. Then, the stratification was suppressed by the vertical mixing and the less stratified water advected from upstream, even the vertical shear in along‐channel flow continued to strain the isopycnal. After channel deepening and narrowing, the salinity in the upper water column experienced a sharp vertical gradient during the entire tidal cycle, while the transverse salinity gradient and lateral flow are profoundly reduced. The impact of lateral straining on stratification becomes minor. The enhanced stratification results in a sharp decrease in turbulent mixing within the pycnocline. The water movement in the upper layer is in a free‐stream status and the tidal current speed increases significantly. The alteration of the vertical current structure enhances the along‐channel tidal straining and stratification is most vigorous on late ebb tide.

Longitudinal Versus Lateral Estuarine Dynamics and Their Role in Tidal Stratification Patterns in Lower South San Francisco Bay

AbstractThe dynamics of shoal‐channel estuaries require consideration of lateral gradients and transport, which can create significant intratidal variability in stratification and circulation. When the shoal‐channel system is strongly coupled by tidal exchange with mudflats, marshes, or other habitats, the gradients driving intratidal stratification variations are expected to intensify. To examine this dynamic, hydrodynamic data were collected from 27 January 2017 to 10 February 2017 in Lower South San Francisco Bay, a small subembayment fringed by extensive shallow vegetated habitats. During this deployment, salinity variations were captured through instrumentation of six stations (arrayed longitudinally and laterally) allowing for mechanisms of stratification creation and destruction to be calculated directly and compared with observed time variability of stratification at the central station. We present observation‐based calculations of longitudinal straining, longitudinal advection, lateral straining, and lateral advection. The time dependence of stratification was observed directly and calculated by summing measured longitudinal and lateral mechanisms. We found that the stratification dynamics switch between being longitudinally dominated during the middle of ebb and flood tides to being laterally dominated during the tidal transitions. This variability is driven by the interplay between tidally variable lateral density gradients and turbulent mixing. Relatively constant along‐estuary density gradients are differentially advected during flood and ebb tides, resulting in maximal lateral density gradients around tidal transitions. Simultaneous decrease in turbulent mixing at slack tides allows lateral density‐driven exchange to stratify the estuary channel at the slack after flood. At the end of ebb, barotropic forcing drives negatively buoyant shoal waters toward the channel.

Summertime Connecticut River Water Pathways and Wind Impacts

AbstractLong Island Sound is a large macrotidal estuary. Connecticut River as the primary freshwater source enters near the sound's mouth. The summertime pathways of river water under low discharge and mild wind conditions are studied through both numerical simulations with a passive dye pulse and field surface drifter observations. Within the 19‐day modeling analysis period a third of the river dye pulse remains in the eastern sound; another third of the pulse moves up‐estuary with the near‐bottom dense inflow into the central and western sound with a spring‐neap tidal modulation; and another third leaves the sound with the near‐surface outflow toward the continental shelf through Block Island Sound. The latter pathway is confirmed by field surface drifter tracks. Three scenarios of wind forcing are tested: a WRF‐ROMS Coupled case, a NARR data forcing case, and a No‐Wind case. The results show though that the sound is tidal mixing dominated, mild winds still alter the position and strength of the estuarine exchange flow, and either enhances by the cross‐estuary winds or lateral straining. On the shelf, winds play a more important role on the fresher estuarine water distribution. The sensitivities of circulation, salinity, and numerical drifter tracks to different atmospheric forcings also are studied. The results suggest that the coupled model has better performance to simulate surface drifter tracks.

Stimulated generation: extraction of energy from balanced flow by near-inertial waves

We study stimulated generation – the transfer of energy from balanced flows to existing internal waves – using an asymptotic model that couples barotropic quasi-geostrophic flow and near-inertial waves with $\text{e}^{\text{i}mz}$ vertical structure, where $m$ is the vertical wavenumber and $z$ is the vertical coordinate. A detailed description of the conservation laws of this vertical-plane-wave model illuminates the mechanism of stimulated generation associated with vertical vorticity and lateral strain. There are two sources of wave potential energy, and corresponding sinks of balanced kinetic energy: the refractive convergence of wave action density into anti-cyclones (and divergence from cyclones); and the enhancement of wave-field gradients by geostrophic straining. We quantify these energy transfers and describe the phenomenology of stimulated generation using numerical solutions of an initially uniform inertial oscillation interacting with mature freely evolving two-dimensional turbulence. In all solutions, stimulated generation co-exists with a transfer of balanced kinetic energy to large scales via vortex merging. Also, geostrophic straining accounts for most of the generation of wave potential energy, representing a sink of 10 %–20 % of the initial balanced kinetic energy. However, refraction is fundamental because it creates the initial eddy-scale lateral gradients in the near-inertial field that are then enhanced by advection. In these quasi-inviscid solutions, wave dispersion is the only mechanism that upsets stimulated generation: with a barotropic balanced flow, lateral straining enhances the wave group velocity, so that waves accelerate and rapidly escape from straining regions. This wave escape prevents wave energy from cascading to dissipative scales.

Modeling lateral circulation and its influence on the along-channel flow in a branched estuary

A numerical modeling study of the influence of the lateral flow on the estuarine exchange flow was conducted in the north passage of the Changjiang estuary. The lateral flows show substantial variabilities within a flood-ebb tidal cycle. The strong lateral flow occurring during flood tide is caused primarily by the unique cross-shoal flow that induces a strong northward (looking upstream) barotropic force near the surface and advects saltier water toward the northern part of the channel, resulting in a southward baroclinic force caused by the lateral density gradient. Thus, a two-layer structure of lateral flows is produced during the flood tide. The lateral flows are vigorous near the flood slack and the magnitude can exceed that of the along-channel tidal flow during that period. The strong vertical shear of the lateral flows and the salinity gradient in lateral direction generate lateral tidal straining, which are out of phase with the along-channel tidal straining. Consequently, stratification is enhanced at the early stage of the ebb tide. In contrast, strong along-channel straining is apparent during the late ebb tide. The vertical mixing disrupts the vertical density gradient, thus suppressing stratification. The impact of lateral straining on stratification during spring tide is more pronounced than that of along-channel straining during late flood and early ebb tides. The momentum balance along the estuary suggests that lateral flow can augment the residual exchange flow. The advection of lateral flows brings low-energy water from the shoal to the deep channel during the flood tide, whereas the energetic water is moved to the shoal via lateral advection during the ebb tide. The impact of lateral flow on estuarine circulation of this multiple-channel estuary is different from single-channel estuary. A model simulation by blocking the cross-shoal flow shows that the magnitudes of lateral flows and tidal straining are reduced. Moreover, the reduced lateral tidal straining results in a decrease in vertical stratification from the late flood to early ebb tides during the spring tide. By contrast, the along-channel tidal straining becomes dominant. The model results illustrate the important dynamic linkage between lateral flows and estuarine dynamics in the Changjiang estuary.

Hydraulics and mixing in a laterally divergent channel of a highly stratified estuary

AbstractEstuarine mixing is often intensified in regions where topographic forcing leads to hydraulic transitions. Observations in the salt‐wedge estuary of the Connecticut River indicate that intense mixing occurs during the ebb tide in regions of supercritical flow that is accelerated by lateral expansion of the channel. The zones of mixing are readily identifiable based on echo‐sounding images of large‐amplitude shear instabilities. The gradient Richardson number (Ri) averaged across the mixing layer decreases to a value very close to 0.25 during most of the active mixing phase. The along‐estuary variation in internal Froude number and interface elevation are roughly consistent with a steady, inviscid, two‐layer hydraulic representation, and the fit is improved when a parameterization for interfacial stress is included. The analysis indicates that the mixing results from lateral straining of the shear layer, and that the rapid development of instabilities maintains the overall flow near the mixing threshold value of Ri = 0.25, even with continuous, active mixing. The entrainment coefficient can be estimated from salt conservation within the interfacial layer, based on the finding that the mixing maintains Ri = 0.25. This approach leads to a scaling estimate for the interfacial mixing coefficient based on the lateral spreading rate and the aspect ratio of the flow, yielding estimates of turbulent dissipation within the pycnocline that are consistent with estimates based on turbulence‐resolving measurements.

Analyses of intermittent mixing and stratification within the North Passage of the Changjiang (Yangtze) River estuary, China: A three-dimensional model study

The TELEMAC-3D, incorporating a stability function, and the potential energy anomaly equation (ϕ-equation), are used to analyze neap-spring tidal and intratidal variability of intermittent mixing and stratification within the North Passage of the Changjiang (Yangtze) River estuary in the wet season. Eight terms in the ϕ-equation are used to examine physical mechanisms and the relative importance of each term for the lower reach of the North Passage. As revealed by the gradient Richardson number (Ri), the Simpson number (Si) and the potential energy anomaly (ϕ), weak mixing and persistent stratification appear on a neap tide, while strong mixing and periodic stratification on a spring tide within the main channel in the middle and lower reaches of the North Passage. The landward subtidal flow is much stronger on a neap tide than that on a spring tide. Within the main channel in the lower reach, large magnitude of longitudinal ϕ-advection (Au) reflects the important effect of saltwedge movement on stratification. Large magnitude of lateral ϕ-advection (Av) may be enhanced by large lateral gradient of ϕ due to the complex bathymetry and artificial structures. Both longitudinal (Au) and lateral ϕ-advections (Av) are temporally and spatially intermittent. Large longitudinal depth-mean straining (Bu) overlays the combined effect of tidal straining, circulation and river discharge. Large lateral depth-mean straining (Bv) is generated by large lateral density gradient interacting with the shear flow. The magnitude of integrated vertical turbulent buoyancy flux (E) mainly depends on tidal stirring at the bottom, while wind stirring at the surface and shear instability at the pycnocline are secondary contributors. The magnitudes of the other physical mechanisms including longitudinal non-mean straining (Cu), lateral non-mean straining (Cv) and vertical advection (D) are relatively smaller than those above. Neap-spring tidal variability of mixing and stratification mainly results from combined effect of three principal physical mechanisms, i.e. tidal stirring, longitudinal (Bu) and lateral depth-mean strainings (Bv). Intratidal variability of mixing and stratification is apparent on a spring tide. It seems that Advection, Straining and Stirring Induced Periodic Stratification (ASSIPS), rather than Advection and Straining Induced Periodic Stratification (ASIPS) and Straining Induced Periodic Stratification (SIPS), controls intratidal variability of mixing and stratification within the North Passage.

Lateral Circulation Generates Flood Tide Stratification and Estuarine Exchange Flow in a Curved Tidal Inlet

AbstractCross-channel transect measurements of microstructure and velocity in a well-mixed and curved tidal inlet in the German Wadden Sea show the occurrence of significant late flood stratification. This stratification is found to be a result of lateral straining. This study observes a strong single-cell lateral circulation, which is strongly pronounced at late flood and absent during most of ebb. This tidal asymmetry is caused by a systematic interplay between centrifugal forcing and the lateral baroclinic pressure gradient. During flood a positive feedback between the terms generates strong lateral circulation, whereas during ebb a negative feedback leads to a suppression of the cross-channel exchange. A theoretical framework based on vorticity is developed, which allows lateral and longitudinal circulation to be studied in a consistent way. With this framework it is possible to show that the tidal asymmetry of the lateral flow is a major driver of residual longitudinal estuarine circulation, here identified with the tidally averaged across-channel vorticity component.

Evidence for Directional Wind Response in Controlling Inter-annual Variations in Duration and Areal Extent of Summertime Hypoxia in Western Long Island Sound

Observations of summertime hypoxia duration and hypoxia areal extent in western Long Island Sound from 1991 to 2010 are correlated with local wind forcing. Results show a strong dependence on wind direction consistent with straining due to axial winds. The analysis of current data from moored ADCPs in the western Sound shows that the dominant mode of response is that of axial currents to axial winds. Estimates for the Wedderburn number (W) are relatively low ranging from 0.75 to 2.5 for prevailing winds, putting the western Sound in a regime more dominated by wind straining than by wind mixing. Estimates for the Kelvin number (Ke) range from approximately 1 to 6 in this diverging channel suggesting the importance of rotation; in the wide part of the basin, current observations show that significant vertically sheared lateral currents develop consistent with the tilting of planetary vortex lines by wind-driven axial current shear. Lateral straining, however, offsets longitudinal straining in the wide part of the basin supporting the hypothesis that simple longitudinal straining associated with axial winds exerts the most important control on the development summertime hypoxia in the constricted part of the western Sound.

Vortex formation and instability in the left ventricle

We study the formation of the mitral vortex ring during early diastolic filling in a patient-specific left ventricle (LV) using direct numerical simulation. The geometry of the left ventricle is reconstructed from Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) data of a healthy human subject. The left ventricular kinematics is modeled via a cell-based activation methodology, which is inspired by cardiac electro-physiology and yields physiologic LV wall motion. In the fluid dynamics videos, we describe in detail the three-dimensional structure of the mitral vortex ring, which is formed during early diastolic filling. The ring starts to deform as it propagates toward the apex of the heart and becomes inclined. The trailing secondary vortex tubes are formed as the result of interaction between the vortex ring and the LV wall. These vortex tubes wrap around the circumference and begin to interact with and destabilize the mitral vortex ring. At the end of diastole, the vortex ring impinges on the LV wall and the large-scale intraventricular flow rotates in clockwise direction. We show for the first time that the mitral vortex ring evolution is dominated by a number of vortex-vortex and vortex-wall interactions, including lateral straining and deformation of vortex ring, the interaction of two vortex tubes with unequal strengths, helicity polarization of vortex tubes and twisting instabilities of the vortex cores.