Ongoing Work:
Chai, X., Ma, Y., Xie, J.-H. and Wang, Y. (under revision), Formation of diffusive-convection staircases within double-core eddies in the Canada Basin: observations and numerical simulations. Submitted to Journal of Physical Oceanography.
Ma, Y., Taylor, J.R and coauthors (in prep), Numerical simulations of melt-driven boundary layers at vertical ice-ocean interfaces and implications for melt parameterization.
Published/Accepted Work:
Ma, Y. and Ferrari, R., 2026. (Accepted) A simple model for tidally forced standing waves in a submarine canyon. Submitted to Journal of Physical Oceanography. Link
Ma, Y., Peltier, W.R., Alford, M.H. Thermohaline staircases in the ocean: Initiation, Evolution and Structure, Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics, Volume 59. Link
Ma, Y., Ferrari, R., Polzin, K. and Caulfield, C.C.P., (2026). Log-normal Mixture distribution describes oceanic turbulent dissipation. Journal of Physical Oceanography, p.e250286. Link
Momeni, K., Peltier, W. R., Skitka, J., Ma, Y., Arbic, B. K., Menemenlis, D., & Pan, Y. (2026). An alternative buoyancy Reynolds number-based inference of ocean diapycnal diffusivity due to internal wave breaking: Results from a high resolution regional ocean model. Geophysical Research Letters, 53, e2025GL119061. Link
Ma, Y., Ferrari, R., Polzin, K., Alford, M.H., Naveira Garabato, A.C. and Voet, G., (2026). Standing Wave–Induced Tidal Shear in a Submarine Canyon in the Rockall Trough. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 56(3), pp.665-680. Link
Naveira Garabato, A.C., Spingys, C.P., Castro, B.F., Couto, N., Drake, H.F., Forryan, A., Gao, Z., Ma, Y., Mercier, H., Messias, M.J. and Ruan, X., (2025). Connecting mixing to upwelling along the ocean's sloping boundary. Geophysical Research Letters, 52(22), p.e2025GL119186. Link
Skitka, J., Arbic, B. K., Ma, Y., Momeni, K., Pan, Y., Peltier, W. R., Menemenlis, D. & Thakur, R. (2024). Internal‐wave dissipation mechanisms and vertical structure in a high‐resolution regional ocean model. Geophysical Research Letters, 51(17), e2023GL108039. Link
Momeni, K., Ma, Y., Peltier, W.R., Thakur, R., Pan, Y., Menemenlis, D., Arbic, B.K., Skitka, J. (2024) Breaking internal waves and ocean diapycnal diffusivity in a High-Resolution Regional Ocean Model: Evidence of a Wave-turbulence cascade, Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 129(6), e2023JC020509. Link
Ma, Y., & Peltier, W. R. (2024). Diffusive-convection staircases in the polar oceans: the interplay between double diffusion and turbulence. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 984, A25 Link
Skitka, J., Arbic, B.K., Thakur, R., Menemenlis, D., Peltier, W.R., Pan, Y., Momeni, K., Ma, Y (2024). Probing the Nonlinear Interactions of Supertidal Internal Waves Using a High-Resolution Regional Ocean Model. Journal of Physical Oceanography 54(2), pp.399-425. Link
Thakur, R., Arbic, B. K., Menemenlis, D., Momeni, K., Pan, Y., Peltier, W. R., Skitka, J., Alford, M.H. & Ma, Y. (2022). Impact of vertical mixing parameterizations on internal gravity wave spectra in regional ocean models. Geophysical Research Letters, e2022GL099614. Link
Ma, Y., & Peltier, W. R. (2022). Thermohaline-turbulence instability and thermohaline staircase formation in the polar oceans. Phys. Rev. Fluids 7, 083801. (Editors' Suggestion) Link
Ma, Y., & Peltier, W. R. (2022). Diapycnal diffusivities in Kelvin–Helmholtz engendered turbulent mixing: The diffusive–convection regime in the Arctic Ocean. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 946, A32. Link
Ma, Y., & Peltier, W. R. (2022). Thermohaline staircase formation in the diffusive convection regime: a theory based upon stratified turbulence asymptotics. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 931,R4. Link
Ma, Y., & Peltier, W. R. (2021). Gamma instability in an inhomogeneous environment and salt-fingering staircase trapping: Determining the step size. Physical Review Fluids, 6(3), 033903. (Editors' Suggestion) Link
Ma, Y., & Peltier, W. R. (2021). Parametrization of irreversible diapycnal diffusivity in salt-fingering turbulence using DNS. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 911, A9. Link
Peltier, W. R., Ma, Y., & Chandan, D. (2020). The KPP trigger of rapid AMOC intensification in the nonlinear Dansgaard‐Oeschger relaxation oscillation. Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans, 125(5), e2019JC015557. Link