Question about circulations

[arcticfire]

In looking over the visible loops this morning a questions came to mind. What condition causes all these seperated circulations ? For instance in the bermuda triangle area right now (if I recall that goes from the east coast -> bermuda -> souther islands in the carb).

There is the major circulation off the east coast , there is a seperate smaller circulation south of that one, then se of that there is the low small circulation over the island people are speaking of , and also ireane. From looking at the overall area it looks like one huge mess with every so many miles having a completly seperate circulation.

It kinda reminds me of what your coffee looks like after your done stiring it and the main funnel falls apart and there is a brief moment of many little ones.

My question is what causes so many circulations to be in such close proximity of each other?

[Frank2]

It kinda reminds me of what your coffee looks like after your done stiring it and the main funnel falls apart and there is a brief moment of many little ones.

That's exactly the process, just on a very small scale - hard to believe, but true (though it might spin longer with regular than it would with decaf)!

Here is a detailed description of them - click on http://www.geol.sc.edu/cbnelson/eddy/eddy.htm to view.

Frank

[arcticfire]

Interesting , thx for the link.

To extend this line of thought , when I stir my cup of coffee I create a votex. It's when that votex collapses that you get the many little ones. If I'm understanding right there is actualy a very complex exhange of energy going on when the main orginized funnel fails. Putting that aside for the moment, this is all in an effort to equalize , the energy added tot he cup by stirring being the unbalancing factor.

Now the atmosphere is obviously a far more complex system of energies. However wouldn't many small voteies in a given area be an indication of an increase in excess energy in the area needing to be dissipated ? Following that line of logic wouldn't that also indicate that would be a prime area for a hurricane to form ?

[Frank2]

However wouldn't many small voteies in a given area be an indication of an increase in excess energy in the area needing to be dissipated? Following that line of logic wouldn't that also indicate that would be a prime area for a hurricane to form?

That's a complicated question (though I think the answer is no, because eddies use less energy) - perhaps Derrek Ott will post a response.

Frank