In fluid dynamics, motions on and below the ocean surface, such as surface and internal (underwater) waves, or along the ocean floor are modeled. Before we can simulate the ocean on a computer, it has to be mathematically divided into separate “control volumes” for which we impose the classic physical conservation principles for mass, momentum, energy, or salinity. Sometimes, billions of these discrete boxes are coupled in a single model. Computer models alongside satellite or field study data, as well as some laboratory experiments help us understand how large-scale events such as underwater avalanches can impair underwater infrastructure such as telecommunication cables or pipelines, how gas and oil reservoirs form below the ocean floor, or how ocean transport of heat, salt, and CO₂ affects global climate, ocean temperature, and acidification. Scalability is important for this type of modeling, since computational investigations of ocean flows often start with small systems that are then upscaled into much larger-scale phenomena.


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