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The fragmentation of the ocean: spray formation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 March 2012

Yves Couder
Yves Couder*
Affiliation:
Matières et Systèmes Complexes, Université Paris 7 Denis Diderot, CNRS - UMR 7057, Bâtiment Condorcet, 10 rue Alice Domon et Léonie Duquet 75205 Paris, CEDEX 13, France
*
†Email address for correspondence: couder@lps.ens.fr
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Abstract

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By what process can droplets be extracted out of the sea? This is an old problem, well-documented by precise field measurements of the size distribution of the spray aerosols. Lhuissier & Villermaux (J. Fluid Mech., this issue, vol. 696, 2012, pp. 5–44) study and characterize the bursting of an emerging bubble. They show that this single type of event can, by itself, generate the droplet size distributions in a sea spray. This is a remarkable result showing how, in a complex system, a statistical distribution can be entirely produced by the dynamics of one dominant phenomenon.

Information

Type
Focus on Fluids
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 696 , 10 April 2012 , pp. 1 - 4
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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