Interaction of a counter-rotating vortex pair with a vortex over bathymetry

Jean N. Reinaud; Xavier J. Carton

doi:10.1080/03091929.2026.2678067

Interaction of a counter-rotating vortex pair with a vortex over bathymetry

Jean N. Reinaud^*
, Xavier J. Carton

^*Corresponding author for this work

Applied Mathematics

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

We consider the interaction of an anticyclonic vortex (an anticyclone) lying above a basin (a depression in the bathymetry) and an incoming pair of opposite-signed vortices in a two-layer quasi-geostrophic flow. We show that the anticyclone lying above the basin may merge with the anticyclone of the incoming pair. We show that the size of the parameter space where merger occurs is large, indicating that such an interaction may easily occur. This helps explain why such mergers have been observed over oceanic basins such as the Lofoten basin.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	144-163
Number of pages	20
Journal	Geophysical & Astrophysical Fluid Dynamics
Volume	120
Issue number	2
Early online date	17 Jun 2026
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/03091929.2026.2678067
Publication status	Published - 17 Jun 2026

Keywords

Quasi-geostrophy
Vortex interaction
Topography

Access to Document

10.1080/03091929.2026.2678067Licence: CC BY

Reinaud_2026_GAFD_Interaction-counter-rotating-vortex-pair_CC
© 2026 The Author(s). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Final published version, 3.24 MBLicence: CC BY

Handle.net

Persistent link to portal record

Cite this

@article{a1b18b2333214b37b558e81f808dc4e2,

title = "Interaction of a counter-rotating vortex pair with a vortex over bathymetry",

abstract = "We consider the interaction of an anticyclonic vortex (an anticyclone) lying above a basin (a depression in the bathymetry) and an incoming pair of opposite-signed vortices in a two-layer quasi-geostrophic flow. We show that the anticyclone lying above the basin may merge with the anticyclone of the incoming pair. We show that the size of the parameter space where merger occurs is large, indicating that such an interaction may easily occur. This helps explain why such mergers have been observed over oceanic basins such as the Lofoten basin.",

keywords = "Quasi-geostrophy, Vortex interaction, Topography",

author = "Reinaud, \{Jean N.\} and Carton, \{Xavier J.\}",

year = "2026",

month = jun,

day = "17",

doi = "10.1080/03091929.2026.2678067",

language = "English",

volume = "120",

pages = "144--163",

journal = "Geophysical \& Astrophysical Fluid Dynamics",

issn = "0309-1929",

publisher = "Taylor and Francis",

number = "2",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Interaction of a counter-rotating vortex pair with a vortex over bathymetry

AU - Reinaud, Jean N.

AU - Carton, Xavier J.

PY - 2026/6/17

Y1 - 2026/6/17

N2 - We consider the interaction of an anticyclonic vortex (an anticyclone) lying above a basin (a depression in the bathymetry) and an incoming pair of opposite-signed vortices in a two-layer quasi-geostrophic flow. We show that the anticyclone lying above the basin may merge with the anticyclone of the incoming pair. We show that the size of the parameter space where merger occurs is large, indicating that such an interaction may easily occur. This helps explain why such mergers have been observed over oceanic basins such as the Lofoten basin.

AB - We consider the interaction of an anticyclonic vortex (an anticyclone) lying above a basin (a depression in the bathymetry) and an incoming pair of opposite-signed vortices in a two-layer quasi-geostrophic flow. We show that the anticyclone lying above the basin may merge with the anticyclone of the incoming pair. We show that the size of the parameter space where merger occurs is large, indicating that such an interaction may easily occur. This helps explain why such mergers have been observed over oceanic basins such as the Lofoten basin.

KW - Quasi-geostrophy

KW - Vortex interaction

KW - Topography

U2 - 10.1080/03091929.2026.2678067

DO - 10.1080/03091929.2026.2678067

M3 - Article

SN - 0309-1929

VL - 120

SP - 144

EP - 163

JO - Geophysical & Astrophysical Fluid Dynamics

JF - Geophysical & Astrophysical Fluid Dynamics

IS - 2

ER -

Interaction of a counter-rotating vortex pair with a vortex over bathymetry

Abstract

Keywords

Access to Document

Handle.net

Fingerprint

Cite this