Inertial waves in a convecting ocean

Inertia waves are considered a potential source of oceanic dissipation in deep fluid interiors such as the oceans icy satellites or the convective envelopes of stars. The geometry of a finite ocean, together with the reflecting properties of inertia waves, allows periodic paths called attractors to accumulate large amounts of energy eventually balanced by viscous dissipation. The interaction of these wave attractors with convective plumes at the pole and mid-latitudes is studied with 3D MITgcm simulations. Strong convection is found to inhibit energy accumulation along wave attractors as the inertia wave beam is decohered. A range of temperature gradients and wave beam properties is explored to approach a scaling law for the critical Rayleigh number below which inertia wave beams may be sustained.