The effects of chaotic advection in a three-layer ocean model.

three-layer model of an inviscid incompressible fluid is considered in a quasigeostrophic approximation within the concept of background currents. A singular topographic obstacle yields the formation of a vortical motion in the layers. It is always present in the lower layer, while in the upper and middle layers it can be observed only at certain velocities of the external flows. Three current functions describing a singular topographic flow in the lower layer and two regular flows in the upper layer are obtained. In case of a nonstationary harmonic perturbation of the external flow, chaotic particle transport is possible in these flows. This paper analyzes the chaotic properties of this model. Depending on the type of unperturbed frequency curves of the fluid particle revolution is determined by the model parameters (stratification) and the incident flow, the patterns of the chaotic transport will substantially differ. Two of the limiting dependences of the revolution frequency are determined, namely, the dependence for a singular vortex and that for a regular vortex with the smallest area. Other dependences are intermediate ones. Two limiting types of revolution frequencies determine the two different scenarios of chaotic advection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]