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The effects of surfactants on spilling breaking waves

Nature volume 421, pages 520–523 (2003)Cite this article

Abstract

Breaking waves markedly increase the rates of air–sea transfer of momentum, energy and mass1,2,3,4. In light to moderate wind conditions, spilling breakers with short wavelengths are observed frequently. Theory and laboratory experiments have shown that, as these waves approach breaking in clean water, a ripple pattern that is dominated by surface tension forms at the crest5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14. Under laboratory conditions and in theory, the transition to turbulent flow is triggered by flow separation under the ripples, typically without leading to overturning of the free surface15. Water surfaces in nature, however, are typically contaminated by surfactant films that alter the surface tension and produce surface elasticity and viscosity16,17. Here we present the results of laboratory experiments in which spilling breaking waves were generated mechanically in water with a range of surfactant concentrations. We find significant changes in the breaking process owing to surfactants. At the highest concentration of surfactants, a small plunging jet issues from the front face of the wave at a point below the wave crest and entraps a pocket of air on impact with the front face of the wave. The bubbles and turbulence created during this process are likely to increase air–sea transfer.

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Figure 1: Measurements of dynamic surface properties.
Figure 2: Two images of a breaking wave in ‘clean’ water.
Figure 3: Images of a surfactant-dominated breaking wave generated in a manner identical to the wave in Fig. 2.
Figure 4: Geometrical properties of the jet.

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Acknowledgements

We thank H. Qiao for preliminary experiments on breaking waves in the presence of surfactants, and G. M. Korenowski for conversations on surfactant chemistry. This work is supported by the Ocean Sciences Division of the National Science Foundation.

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  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, 20742, USA

    Xinan Liu & James H. Duncan

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  1. Xinan Liu
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  2. James H. Duncan
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Correspondence to James H. Duncan.

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Liu, X., Duncan, J. The effects of surfactants on spilling breaking waves. Nature 421, 520–523 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature01357

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