  Plasma turbulence described by the Hasegawa-Wakatani equations has been
simulated numerically for different models and values of the adiabaticity
parameter C. It is found that for low values of C turbulence remains isotropic,
zonal flows are not generated and there is no suppression of the meridional
drift waves and of the particle transport. For high values of C, turbulence
evolves toward highly anisotropic states with a dominant contribution of the
zonal sector to the kinetic energy. This anisotropic flow leads to a decrease
of a turbulence production in the meridional sector and limits the particle
transport across the mean isopycnal surfaces. This behavior allows to consider
the Hasegawa-Wakatani equations a minimal PDE model which contains the
drift-wave/zonal-flow feedback loop prototypical of the LH transition in plasma
devices.
