Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 24, 2025

Sediment Core Extrusion Method at Millimeter Resolution Using a Calibrated, Threaded-rod
Published on: August 17, 2016
Submesoscale variability enhances shoreline oiling: deepwater blowout simulations in the Agulhas current
Giles Fearon1, Annalisa Bracco2, Danielle Ameen Reich3
1South African Environmental Observation Network, Egagasini Node, Cape Town, South Africa.
Abstract:
This study critically examines oil spill simulations for a hypothetical 15 day deepwater blowout spill scenario off the east coast of South Africa, coincident with the upper reaches of the Agulhas Current. Our aim is to quantify the impact of submesoscale circulations on the fate of the oil by comparing a submesoscale permitting (2.5 km) versus a mesoscale resolving (7.5 km) ocean model. The bimodal nature of the Agulhas Current plays a crucial role in the fate of the oil. Off the east coast, the relative stability of the current limits shoreline impacts, while downstream the increased variability of the current and its meandering is associated with the generation of submesoscale circulations that drive entrainment of oil onto the continental shelf. Oil entrainment is therefore enhanced in the submesoscale permitting model, and the predicted oiling of South Africa's south coast is found to vary in concert with seasonally varying winds.
More Related Videos
08:38Microfluidic Devices for Characterizing Pore-scale Event Processes in Porous Media for Oil Recovery Applications
Published on: January 16, 2018
12:18Pore-scale Imaging and Characterization of Hydrocarbon Reservoir Rock Wettability at Subsurface Conditions Using X-ray Microtomography
Published on: October 21, 2018
Related Concept Videos
Buoyancy and Stability for Submerged and Floating Bodies
Pressure Variation in a Fluid at Rest
When measuring pressure at two different levels within the fluid, the difference in...
Elastic Strain Energy for Shearing Stresses
Shock Waves
When the source's speed approaches the speed of sound, constructive interference between successive wavefronts emitted by the source occurs immediately behind it. Initially, scientists believed that this constructive interference would result in such high...
Magnetostatic Boundary Conditions
Boundary Layer Characteristics