Turbulent Mixing Under Drifting Pack Ice in the Weddell Sea
By providing cold, dense water that sinks and mixes to fill the abyssal world ocean, high-latitude air-sea-ice interaction is the main conduit through which the deep ocean communicates with the rest of the climate system. A key element in modeling and predicting oceanic impact on climate is understa...
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American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
1994
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.263.5144.218 https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.263.5144.218 |
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craaas:10.1126/science.263.5144.218 2024-09-09T20:07:46+00:00 Turbulent Mixing Under Drifting Pack Ice in the Weddell Sea McPhee, Miles G. Martinson, Douglas G. 1994 http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.263.5144.218 https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.263.5144.218 en eng American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science volume 263, issue 5144, page 218-221 ISSN 0036-8075 1095-9203 journal-article 1994 craaas https://doi.org/10.1126/science.263.5144.218 2024-07-11T04:01:15Z By providing cold, dense water that sinks and mixes to fill the abyssal world ocean, high-latitude air-sea-ice interaction is the main conduit through which the deep ocean communicates with the rest of the climate system. A key element in modeling and predicting oceanic impact on climate is understanding the processes that control the near surface exchange of heat, salt, and momentum. In 1992, the United States—Russian Ice Station Weddell-1 traversed the western Weddell Sea during the onset of winter, providing a platform for direct measurement of turbulent heat flux and Reynolds stress in the upper ocean. Data from a storm early in the drift indicated (i) well-formed Ekman spirals (in both velocity and turbulent stress); (ii) high correlation between mixed layer heat flux and temperature gradients; (iii) that eddy viscosity and eddy thermal diffusivity were similar, about 0.02 square meters per second; and (iv) that the significant turbulent length scale (2 to 3 meters through most of the boundary layer) was proportional to the wavelength at the peak in the weighted vertical velocity spectrum. The measurements were consistent with a simple model in which the bulk eddy viscosity in the neutrally buoyant mixed layer is proportional to kinematic boundary stress divided by the Coriolis parameter. Article in Journal/Newspaper Sea ice Weddell Sea AAAS Resource Center (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Weddell Weddell Sea Science 263 5144 218 221 |
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Open Polar |
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AAAS Resource Center (American Association for the Advancement of Science) |
op_collection_id |
craaas |
language |
English |
description |
By providing cold, dense water that sinks and mixes to fill the abyssal world ocean, high-latitude air-sea-ice interaction is the main conduit through which the deep ocean communicates with the rest of the climate system. A key element in modeling and predicting oceanic impact on climate is understanding the processes that control the near surface exchange of heat, salt, and momentum. In 1992, the United States—Russian Ice Station Weddell-1 traversed the western Weddell Sea during the onset of winter, providing a platform for direct measurement of turbulent heat flux and Reynolds stress in the upper ocean. Data from a storm early in the drift indicated (i) well-formed Ekman spirals (in both velocity and turbulent stress); (ii) high correlation between mixed layer heat flux and temperature gradients; (iii) that eddy viscosity and eddy thermal diffusivity were similar, about 0.02 square meters per second; and (iv) that the significant turbulent length scale (2 to 3 meters through most of the boundary layer) was proportional to the wavelength at the peak in the weighted vertical velocity spectrum. The measurements were consistent with a simple model in which the bulk eddy viscosity in the neutrally buoyant mixed layer is proportional to kinematic boundary stress divided by the Coriolis parameter. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
McPhee, Miles G. Martinson, Douglas G. |
spellingShingle |
McPhee, Miles G. Martinson, Douglas G. Turbulent Mixing Under Drifting Pack Ice in the Weddell Sea |
author_facet |
McPhee, Miles G. Martinson, Douglas G. |
author_sort |
McPhee, Miles G. |
title |
Turbulent Mixing Under Drifting Pack Ice in the Weddell Sea |
title_short |
Turbulent Mixing Under Drifting Pack Ice in the Weddell Sea |
title_full |
Turbulent Mixing Under Drifting Pack Ice in the Weddell Sea |
title_fullStr |
Turbulent Mixing Under Drifting Pack Ice in the Weddell Sea |
title_full_unstemmed |
Turbulent Mixing Under Drifting Pack Ice in the Weddell Sea |
title_sort |
turbulent mixing under drifting pack ice in the weddell sea |
publisher |
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) |
publishDate |
1994 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.263.5144.218 https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.263.5144.218 |
geographic |
Weddell Weddell Sea |
geographic_facet |
Weddell Weddell Sea |
genre |
Sea ice Weddell Sea |
genre_facet |
Sea ice Weddell Sea |
op_source |
Science volume 263, issue 5144, page 218-221 ISSN 0036-8075 1095-9203 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.263.5144.218 |
container_title |
Science |
container_volume |
263 |
container_issue |
5144 |
container_start_page |
218 |
op_container_end_page |
221 |
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1809941448152317952 |