SIMULATIONS OF 3-DIMENSIONAL LANGMUIR CIRCULATION IN WATER OF CONSTANT DENSITY

Simulations of Langmuir circulation with constant eddy viscosity that reveal considerable levels of spatial and temporal complexity are repo rted. Ln field observations, the simulations could be interpreted as e vidence of vacillation in space and time of measured features in the c irculation system, and of the presence of defect structures in the win drow patterns in which the local spacing changes by a factor of 2 in a distance short compared to the windrow spacing. The results also sugg est that the ratio of downwind jet speed to downwelling speeds (pitch) can be highly variable and is not a robust feature of Langmuir circul ations.