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| Titel |
Wind-driven circulation in Titan's seas |
| VerfasserIn |
Tetsuya Tokano, Ralph D. Lorenz |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2015
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| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 17 (2015) |
| Datensatznummer |
250102097
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| Publikation (Nr.) |
 EGU/EGU2015-1378.pdf |
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| Zusammenfassung |
| Circulation in Titan’s seas forced by wind is simulated by an ocean circulation model using
surface wind data predicted by a global circulation model. Wind-driven circulation is
insignificant throughout much of the annual cycle, but becomes significant from late spring to
late summer, when the wind stress becomes strong. The large-scale circulation in summer is
predominantly southward near the sea surface and northward near the sea bottom.
The sea surface current can get as fast as 5 cms-1 in some areas. Titan’s rotation
affects the vertical structure of sea currents in the form of an Ekman spiral if the
wind is strong. The maximum wind set-up at the shores is of the same order of
magnitude as the tidal range. Wind stirring may reduce thermal stratification in
summer, but may be unable to destroy stratification of methane-rich liquids on top of
ethane-rich liquids that can result from imbalances between evaporation and precipitation. |
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