Environmental Fluid Dyanmics -  University of Toronto

Research Overview

Group members

Masters and PhD student opportunities

Field Work

Laboratory

Teaching

CV

Publications

Mathew wells

 
 
 
Mathew Wells
Assistant Professor
Physical and Environmental Sciences
University of Toronto (Scarborough)
1265 Military Trail
Toronto, Ontario M1C 1A4
Canada
Office number =  SW410D
Telephone = 416 208 4879
wells@utsc.utoronto.ca








Vortices at Reversing falls New Brunswick Vortices in shear flow


My research aims to quantify the mixing in environmental flows, particularly
those in large lakes and the coastal ocean where stratification and the Earth's rotation play a dominant role in the dynamics. I study such mixing and dispersion in both the field and the laboratory.

Currently  my main areas of research are in the study of turbidity currents, densit
y currents, double diffusive convection, dispersion in environmental flows and modeling of two dimensional turbulence.
ballast water Dispersion of ballast water












I am looking for potential graduate students with interests in physical limnology, coastal oceanography or fundamental fluid dynamics.  I currently have funding for a specific project on the dispersion of aqautic invasive species, funded by the Canadian Aquatic Invasive Species Network. Here is a link to field work conducted in the summer of 2008 where we studied the dispersion of ballast water from a large freight ship. Succesfuul graduate students would need to be self motivated, have an undergraduate background in mathematics, physics, geology or engineering, and have good communication skills. 
Potential students would be enrolled in either the Department of Geology, Department of Geography , Department of Physics or the Centre of the Environment at the University of Toronto. The University of Toronto has a respectable funding package for students (made up from a central fund, grant support, and teaching assistantships). The start date is typically August of each year. However, as the University of Toronto now has only one intake time per year, it is essential that interested students begin the application procedure prior to the end of the previous year (November 2008).

Interested Masters and PhD students are encouraged to contact me directly at wells@utsc.utoronto.ca about potential research projects for 2009.

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Research opportunities also exist for undergraduates through the course  EESD10Y3 Research Project in Environmental Science. Undergraduate summer research projects are also possible, and students are encouraged to apply for the NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Awards  or the University of Toronto Excellence Awards (UTEA) In the Natural Sciences and Engineering.


   

Brief CV

1993 - 1996 Bachelor of Science  - First Class Honours
            Australian National University

1997 - 2001 PhD in Geophysical Fluid Dynamics, Research School of Earth Sciences,
            Australian National University

2001 - 2002 Post Doctoral Fellow, Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, Department of Applied Physics,
            Eindhoven Technical University, The Netherlands

2003 - 2005 Research Associate, Department of Geology, Yale University







Publications

2010
Cossu, R. & M.G. Wells. A comparison of the shear stress distribution in the bottom boundary layer of experimental density and turbidity currents. J.  Geophys. Res. (under review)

M.G. Wells & S. Parker. The thermal variability of the waters of Fathom Five National Marine Park, Lake Huron.  J. Great Lakes Res. (under review)

M.G. Wells, C. Cenedese & C.P. Caulfield. The relationship between flux coefficient \Gamma and entrainment ratio E in density currents. Journal of Physical Oceanography. (under review)

L.A. Wyngaarden, K.M. Vogeli, B. Ciruna, T.P. Yamaguchi, D.Y. Stainier, G.R. Martin, M.G. Wells, A-K Hadjantonakis, S. Hopyan. Oriented cell motility and division underlie early limb bud morphogenesis. Development (under review)

2009
M.G. Wells. How Coriolis forces can limit the spatial extent of sediment deposition of a large-scale turbidity current. Sedimentary Geology, 218, 1-5  doi:10.1016/j.sedgeo.2009.04.011   

M.G. Wells & P. Nadarajah.  The intrusion depth of density currents flowing into stratified water bodies. J. Phys. Oceanog. 39, 1935–1947.

M.G. Wells & L, Sealock, Summer Water Circulation in Frenchman's Bay, a Shallow Coastal Embayment Connected to Lake Ontario, J Great Lakes Resdoi:10.1016/j.jglr.2009.08.009

2008
M.G. Wells & J. S. Wettlaufer. The circulation in Lake Vostok: A laboratory analogue study. Geophys Res Letts.  35, L0350, doi:10.1029/2007GL032162

M.G.Wells, H.J.H Clercx & G.J.F. van Heijst, Mixing and dispersion in laboratory experiments of forced 2D turbulence. in “Transport in Geophysical Flows". Lecture Notes in Physics, Vol. 744 Weiss, J.B. and Provenzale, A. (Eds.)  pp 115-132

2007
M.G. Wells & J. S. Wettlaufer. The long-term circulation driven by density currents in a two-layer stratified basin. J. Fluid Mech. 572,  37 - 58

M.G. Wells,  H.J.H. Clercx, &  G.J.F. van Heijst. Vortices in oscillating spin-up. J. Fluid Mech. 573, 339 - 369
    ( Click here to download a movie of the laboratory experiments and here to download a movie of the numerical experiments )

M.G. Wells. Influence of Coriolis forces on turbidity currents and their sediment patterns.  Particle-laden flow: from geophysical to Kolmogorov scales. ERCOFTAC Series, 11, B.J. Geurts, H. Clercx, and W. Uijttewaal (Eds.)   pp. 331 –344.

2005
M.G. Wells & J. S. Wettlaufer. Two dimensional density currents in a confined basin Geophys. Astro. Fluid Dyn. 99 , 199-218

H.J.H Clercx , G.J.F. van Heijst, D. Molenaar & M.G. Wells. No slip walls as a vorticity source in 2D bounded turbulence. Dyn. Atmos. Oceans 40 3-21

2004
 M.G. Wells  & G.J.F.  van Heijst, Dipole formation by tidal flow in a channel  in Shallows Flows.  Jirka, G.H. and Uijttewaal, W. (Eds.),  Balkema, Rotterdam. pp. 63-70

 S. Bryan, A. Cook, J. Evans, P. Colls, M.G. Wells, M. Lawrence, J. Jell, A. Greig & R. Leslie. Pumice rafting and faunal dispersion during 2001-2002 in the Sothwest Pacific: record of a dacitic submarine explosive eruption from Tonga.  Earth Planet. Sci. Letts. 227 135-154

2003
M.G.Wells & G.J.F. van Heijst.  A model of tidal flushing of an estuary by dipole formation  Dyn. Atmos. Oceans. 37 223-244  

M.G.Wells & R.W Griffiths   The interaction of salt finger convection with intermittent turbulence. J. Geophys. Res. 108 (C3) 10.1029/2002JC001427

2002
M.G.Wells & R.W Griffiths  Localized stirring in a field of salt fingers  Dyn. Atmos. Oceans. 35 (4): 327-350

2001
M.G.Wells & B. Sherman  Stratification produced by surface cooling in lakes with significant shallow regions   J. Limn. and Ocean. 46, 1747-1759

M.G Wells., R. W. Griffiths, & J. S. Turner, Generation of density fine structure by salt fingers in a spatially periodic shear. J.  Geophys. Res. 106, 7027 - 7037.

M.G. Wells Convection, turbulent mixing and salt fingers.  Ph.D. Thesis, Australian National University.

1999
M.G. Wells, R.W. Griffiths & J.S. Turner, Competition between distributed and localised buoyancy fluxes in a confined volume. J. Fluid Mech. 391, 319 - 336.

1998

A.M. Leitch, G.F. Davies & M.G. Wells, A plume head melting under a rifting margin. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 161, 161-177.