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SUMMARY:Emergence of phytoplankton patchiness at small scales in mild turb
 ulence - Marco Mazza (Max-Planck-Institut für Dynamics and Self-Organisat
 ion)
DTSTART:20190213T164000Z
DTEND:20190213T172000Z
UID:TALK120292@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:INI IT
DESCRIPTION:Sailors have known for millennia that periodically the seas ap
 pear of unusual color and can even turn red. These large swaths of colors 
 stretching for tens or hundreds of km are caused by countless microscopic 
 organisms called phytoplankton. These are microscopic algae that use sunli
 ght to produce energy. They are the base of the marine food chain\, and pr
 oduce 50% or more of the oxygen in the atmosphere. Phytoplankton often enc
 ounter turbulence in their habitat. The spatial distribution of motile phy
 toplankton cells exhibits patchiness at distances of decimeter to millimet
 er scale for numerous species with different motility strategies. The expl
 anation of this general phenomenon remains challenging. We combine particl
 e simulations and continuum theory to study the emergence of patchiness in
  motile microorganisms in three<br>dimensions\, by including hydrodynamic 
 cell-cell interactions\, which grow more relevant as the density in the pa
 tches increases. By addressing the combined effects of motility\, cell-cel
 l interaction and turbulent flow conditions\, we uncover a general mechani
 sm: the coupling of cell-cell interactions to the turbulent dynamics favor
 s the formation of dense patches.<br>[R. E. Breier\, et al.\, Proc. Natl. 
 Acad. Sci. USA 115\, 12112 (2018)]<br>
LOCATION:Seminar Room 2\, Newton Institute
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