Fig. 4
From: Self-sharpening induces jet-like structure in seafloor gravity currents
Comparison of time-averaged velocity and density profiles across a range of environmental flows with and without sharpened-jet-like structures. Normalized velocity and scalar transport profiles of: a a saline gravity current experiment, Exp. 2311; b a sediment-laden gravity current in the submerged Ikushunbetsu river valley48; c the mean Black Sea gravity current investigated herein; d the North-Atlantic Gulf Stream at 70°W49,50; e a high speed Jovian atmospheric jet stream at 24°N51. In (a–e) streamwise velocity, u, is denoted by solid lines, and the concentration of the scalar quantities transported by the flows, θ, are shown by dashed lines; the plane of measurements is specified with respect to gravity; and dashed black lines denote the lower–upper shear layer interface; and cross-stream distance, centred at the velocity maximum, zm, is normalized by the flow integral length scale, L (see methods). In (a–c) the scalar transport term is θ = ρf /ρ − 1 and in (d) θ is the sea surface temperature. The velocity and scalar transport profile of the Black Sea gravity current (c) is conspicuously different from existing experimental and field-data based models of density-driven flows (a, b), but strongly resembles the self-sharpened profiles of oceanic and atmospheric jets (d, e)
