{"id":308,"date":"2019-07-01T12:16:31","date_gmt":"2019-07-01T16:16:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.whoi.edu\/staff\/lpratt\/?page_id=308"},"modified":"2025-07-17T13:00:42","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T17:00:42","slug":"research","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www2.whoi.edu\/staff\/lpratt\/research\/","title":{"rendered":"Research"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

Research<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"Fluid\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\tFluid trajectories in the eddy show a mix of chaotic (red) regions and non-chaotic (blue and green) surfaces.\n\t

Applications of Chaos Theory in the Ocean<\/a><\/h2>\n

Mixing is an important consideration in the understanding of how properties such as heat and oxygen are transferred down from the ocean surface, or how nutrients are brought up from depth. Harmful algal blooms can be locked to such processes. In work with colleagues Irina Rypina and Tamay Ozgokmen, I use chaos theory to try to understand these processes as they might act in an ocean eddy.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"Locations\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\tLocations of Major sills in North Atlantic Ocean\n\t

Deep Circulation, Overflows, and Canyon Flows<\/a><\/h2>\n

The ocean is naturally divided into deep basins and there are currents of dense water that flow around and between them.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"Eel\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\tWhen eel larvae are released in the Sargasso Sea (dashed box) and allowed to drift for one year, with ability to change depths diurnally but not swim horizontally, very few are able to reach the east coast continental shelf, as shown by the probability map. This suggests that horizontal swimming is important.\n\t

Biophysical Modeling<\/a><\/h2>\n

Most fish and benthic-associated invertebrates use a reproductive strategy involving the spawning of hundreds to millions of eggs that hatch into small and vulnerable planktonic larvae.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"\"\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t

Microplastics in the Ocean<\/h2>\n

Microplastic particles are found everywhere: in beer, human breast milk, snow, bottled water, and virtually every part of the ocean. WHOI has a microplastics group that meets monthly to discuss the physics, chemistry and toxicology and other aspects of microplastics in the ocean. A few of us, including my colleague Irina Rypina, are particularly interested in how plastics are transported by ocean currents and whether they accumulate in certain areas.\u00a0\u00a0 The attached video shows a simple example of a set of attractors, <\/em>set up by swirling currents that mimic the circulation in an ocean eddy. Predictions of where attractors exist could guide observational surveys and ultimately might guide efforts to filter plastic particles from the ocean.<\/p>\n\t

Research<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"Fluid\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\tFluid trajectories in the eddy show a mix of chaotic (red) regions and non-chaotic (blue and green) surfaces.\n\t

Applications of Chaos Theory in the Ocean<\/a><\/h2>\n

Mixing is an important consideration in the understanding of how properties such as heat and oxygen are transferred down from the ocean surface, or how nutrients are brought up from depth. Harmful algal blooms can be locked to such processes. In work with colleagues Irina Rypina and Tamay Ozgokmen, I use chaos theory to try to understand these processes as they might act in an ocean eddy.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"Locations\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\tLocations of Major sills in North Atlantic Ocean\n\t

Deep Circulation, Overflows, and Canyon Flows<\/a><\/h2>\n

The ocean is naturally divided into deep basins and there are currents of dense water that flow around and between them.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"Eel\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\tWhen eel larvae are released in the Sargasso Sea (dashed box) and allowed to drift for one year, with ability to change depths diurnally but not swim horizontally, very few are able to reach the east coast continental shelf, as shown by the probability map. This suggests that horizontal swimming is important.\n\t

Biophysical Modeling<\/a><\/h2>\n

Most fish and benthic-associated invertebrates use a reproductive strategy involving the spawning of hundreds to millions of eggs that hatch into small and vulnerable planktonic larvae.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\"\"\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t

\nhttps:\/\/www2.whoi.edu\/staff\/lpratt\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/120\/2025\/04\/testmovie4.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n\t

Microplastics in the Ocean<\/h2>\n

Microplastic particles are found everywhere: in beer, human breast milk, snow, bottled water, and virtually every part of the ocean. WHOI has a microplastics group that meets monthly to discuss the physics, chemistry and toxicology and other aspects of microplastics in the ocean. A few of us, including my colleague Irina Rypina, are particularly interested in how plastics are transported by ocean currents and whether they accumulate in certain areas.\u00a0\u00a0 The attached video shows a simple example of a set of attractors, <\/em>set up by swirling currents that mimic the circulation in an ocean eddy. Predictions of where attractors exist could guide observational surveys and ultimately might guide efforts to filter plastic particles from the ocean.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Research Fluid trajectories in the eddy show a mix of chaotic (red) regions and non-chaotic (blue and green) surfaces. Applications of Chaos Theory in the Ocean Mixing is an important consideration in the understanding of how properties such as heat and oxygen are transferred down from the ocean surface, or how nutrients are brought up…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":205,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.whoi.edu\/staff\/lpratt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/308"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.whoi.edu\/staff\/lpratt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.whoi.edu\/staff\/lpratt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.whoi.edu\/staff\/lpratt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/205"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.whoi.edu\/staff\/lpratt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=308"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www2.whoi.edu\/staff\/lpratt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/308\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":389,"href":"https:\/\/www2.whoi.edu\/staff\/lpratt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/308\/revisions\/389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.whoi.edu\/staff\/lpratt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}