Dr John R. Taylor

Career

  • 2011-present: University Lecturer, Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge
  • 2008-2011: NSF Mathematical Sciences Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Research Interests

My research focuses on the fluid dynamics of the ocean. I am particularly interested in ocean turbulence and mixing, ocean fronts and the surface boundary layer, and the impact of turbulence on micro-organisms. Recent work has uncovered a fascinating and poorly-understood collection of processes occurring at relatively small scales (<O(10km)) where the vertical motion is strong but stratification and the Earth's rotation are important factors. Since these motions are too small to be directly resolved by global ocean and climate models, understanding their impact on the structure and dynamics of the ocean is one of the most pressing topics in physical oceanography. Currently, I am studying upper ocean fronts and their impact on boundary layer turbulence, the role of physics in triggering phytoplankton blooms, the impact of turbulence on swimming bacteria, and mixing driven by breaking internal waves. My work primarily uses computational methods to address these questions.

Selected Publications

  • Taylor, J.R. and R. Ferrari (2011) Ocean fronts trigger high latitude phytoplankton blooms. Geophysical Research Letters. 38, L23601, doi:10.1029/2011GL049312
  • Taylor, J.R. and R. Ferrari (2011) Shutdown of turbulent convection as a new criterion for the onset of spring phytoplankton blooms. Limnology and Oceanography, 56(6) 2293-2307.
  • Thomas L.N., J.R. Taylor, R. Ferrari, and T.M. Joyce (2011) Symmetric instability in the Gulf Stream. submitted to Deep Sea Research.
  • Taylor, J.R. and R. Ferrari (2010) Buoyancy and wind-driven convection at mixed layer density fronts. Journal of Physical Oceanography 40, 1222-1242
  • Thomas L.N. and J.R. Taylor (2010) Reduction of the usable wind-work on the general circulation by forced symmetric instability. Geophysical Research Letters. 37, L18606, doi: 10.1029/2010GL044680
  • Taylor J.R. and R. Ferrari (2009) On the equilibration of a symmetrically unstable front via a secondary shear instability. Journal of Fluid Mechanics 622, 103-113
  • Gayen B., S. Sarkar, and J.R. Taylor (2009) Large eddy simulation of a stratified boundary layer under an oscillatory current. Journal of Fluid Mechanics 643, 233-266
  • Taylor, J. R. and S. Sarkar (2008) Direct and large eddy simulations of a bottom Ekman layer under and external stratification. International Journal of Heat and Fluid Flow 29, 3, 721-732
  • Taylor J.R. and S. Sarkar (2007) Internal gravity waves generated by a turbulent bottom Ekman layer. Journal of Fluid Mechanics 590, 1, 331-354
  • Taylor J.R., S. Sarkar, and V. Armenio (2005) Large eddy simulation of stably stratified open channel flow. Phys. Fluids 17, 116602
  • Bennett A.F., J.R. Taylor, and B.S. Chua (2005) Lattice Boltzmann open boundaries for hydrodynamic models. Journal of Computational Physics, 203, 89-111
  • Taylor J.R., K.K. Falkner, U. Schauer, and M. Meredith (2003)
    Quantitative considerations of dissolved Barium as a tracer in the Arctic Ocean. Journal of Geophysical Research, 108 (C12), 3374