Investigation of the conditions for the development of waves at the interface of water masses of different densities

Abstract

Abstract The influence of differences in the hydrochemical characteristics of the waters of merging rivers on the formation of density currents and the behavior of the density jump layer is studied numerically. The problem is solved for the velocity regimes of the confluent Chusovaya and Sylva rivers (Russian Federation), which are characterized by significantly different salinity values. To study the specific features of layered structures, numerical simulation is performed in the framework of a two-dimensional approach. The calculations are carried out for a section of the Chusovaya River with a length of 300 m, located downstream from confluence of the Chusovaya and Sylva rivers. The Chusovskoy water intake of the city of Perm is located on this site. In the winter-spring season, in this area a regime is established in which a stable layer of density and velocity jumps is observed. With the confluence parameters typical of the winter low water season in the area of the Chusovskoy water intake, 8 km below the confluence point, field measurements detected fluctuations in the concentration and flow velocity in the density jump layer. The two-dimensional numerical simulations performed in the present work also showed the presence of velocity and concentration fluctuations in the jump layer. We found that vortex structures are formed in the jump layer, leading to fluctuations in the concentration in time at a given point and to the formation of a wave structure of the concentration field at different times.