Filippo de Lillo
Department of Physics, University of Turin, Italy
Clustering of gyrotactic algae in a turbulent ocean
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Many one-celled algae which compose phytoplankton are able to swim. Some of
them have simple orientation mechanisms leading them against gravity, away from
the dark bottom of the ocean, towards light. A standard mechanistic model allows
to account for several experimental observations as resulting from the balance
between fluid torque and directed vertical motion, the so-called gyrotaxis. We will discuss some analytical and numerical results on how fluid turbulence affects the clustering of gyrotactic algae, producing small scale patchiness and dissolving large scale formations.
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