Gravity Currents: A Comparison of Analytical and Numerical Solutions
Project Description
Turbidity currents are sediment-driven flows in lakes or in the ocean ('underwater avalanches') which propagate along the seafloor due to the density difference caused by the suspended particles. Turbidity currents represent a large-scale geophysical flow phenomenon that plays an important role within the global sediment cycle, and in the formation of deep-sea hydrocarbon reservoirs. Turbidity currents can be maintained for hours or even days, transport many km3 of sediment, and propagate over distances up to 1,000km or more. The sediment deposits generated by these currents, known as turbidites, extend over tens or even hundreds of kilometers along the bottom of the ocean, and they frequently are hundreds of meters deep.
This project will provide the students with the opportunity to become familiar with basic equations of fluid mechanics applied on a control volume analytically and numerically (Conservation of mass, momentum and Bernoulli's Equation) and their equivalents in a differential space (continuity, and Navier-Stokes) very briefly. This will evoke their skills and ability about mathematics, physics and computer science.
