  Experimentalists now measure intense rotations of Lagrangian particles in
turbulent flows by tracking their trajectories and Lagrangian-average velocity
gradients at high Reynolds numbers. This paper formulates the dynamics of an
orthonormal frame attached to each Lagrangian fluid particle undergoing
three-axis rotations, by using quaternions in combination with Ertel's theorem
for frozen-in vorticity. The method is applicable to a wide range of Lagrangian
flows including the three-dimensional Euler equations and its variants such as
ideal MHD. The applicability of the quaterionic frame description to Lagrangian
averaged velocity gradient dynamics is also demonstrated.
