Professor - Associate Director - Earth Physics

1979 PhD Australian National University

1975 BSc (Hons) Australian National University

 

Professional Background

Griffiths is an international expert in fluid dynamics and ocean circulation. He heads the geophysics section of Australia’s leading institution in the earth sciences, where he is also responsible for the geophysical fluid dynamics laboratory. He is an elected Fellow of the American Geophysical Union and of the Australian Academy of Science. He served as Interim Director of the ANU’s Research School of Earth Sciences in 2006, is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Fluid Mechanics, and is currently a member of the Australian Research Council’s College of Experts (Physics, Chemistry, Geoscience panel).

 

Research and Teaching Interests

Griffith’s research interests include the dynamics that underlie the global circulation of the oceans, the role this circulation plays in climate variability and global warming, and the dynamics of regional ocean circulations such as the Leeuwin Current and East Australia Current. Recent research has addressed the fundamentals of the energy pathways within the oceans. He also researches physical processes in volcanic eruptions and the dynamics of motion in the solid mantle of the earth, particularly the subduction of lithospheric plates and processes leading to surface volcanism.

 

Notable Publications

 Griffiths, R.W. and Linden, P.F. The stability of vortices in a rotating stratified fluid. J. Fluid Mech, 105, 283-316. 1981

 Griffiths, R.W., Killworth, P.D. and Stern, M.E. Ageostrophic instability of ocean currents. J. Fluid Mech., 117, 343-377. 1982

 

 Griffiths, R.W. and Veronis, G. A laboratory study of the effects of a sloping side boundary on wind driven circulation in a homogeneous ocean model. J. Mar. Res., 55, 1103-1127. 1997

 

Mullarney, J.C., Griffiths, R.W. and Hughes, G.O. Convection driven by differential heating at a horizontal boundary. J. Fluid Mech., 516, 181–209. 2004

 Hughes, G.O. and Griffiths, R.W. A simple convective model of the global overturning circulation, including effects of entrainment into sinking regions. Ocean Modelling 12, 46–79. 2006

 Hughes, G.O., Griffiths, R.W., Mullarney, J.C. and Peterson, W.H.  A theoretical model for horizontal convection at large Rayleigh number. J. Fluid Mech., 581, 251-276. 2007

 

Hughes, G.O., Hogg, A.Mc. and Griffiths, R.W.  Available potential energy and irreversible mixing in the meridional overturning circulation. J. Phys. Oceanography. 2009