Recirculation cells in a wide channel

A groundbreaking study on the Seine River reveals the presence of remarkably regular, stationary recirculation cells—pairs of counter-rotating vortices—spanning the entire width of a straight river reach. These structures, observed using acoustic Doppler current profiling, challenge traditional interpretations that attribute such flows solely to boundary effects like duct corners. The research demonstrates that these secondary flow cells contribute significantly to momentum transfer, comparable to classical turbulent transfer. This finding sheds new light on fluid dynamics in wide channels and has implications for understanding riverine processes.

Chauvet, H., Devauchelle, O., Metivier, F., Lajeunesse, E., & Limare, A. (2014). Recirculation cells in a wide channel. Physics of Fluids, 26(1). https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4862442