Lagrangian pathways of upwelling in the Southern Ocean

• Published in: Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans
• Main Authors: Viglione, Giuliana A., Thompson, Andrew F.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: American Geophysical Union 2016
• Subjects: Drake Passage; Indian; Pacific; Southern Ocean
• Online Access: https://authors.library.caltech.edu/69507/; https://authors.library.caltech.edu/69507/2/Viglione_et_al-2016-Journal_of_Geophysical_Research-_Oceans.pdf; https://authors.library.caltech.edu/69507/1/Viglione_et_al-2016-Journal_of_Geophysical_Research-_Oceans.pdf; https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20160809-075333471

The spatial and temporal variability of upwelling into the mixed layer in the Southern Ocean is studied using a 1/10° ocean general circulation model. Virtual drifters are released in a regularly-spaced pattern across the Southern Ocean at depths of 250, 500, and 1000 m during both summer and winter months. The drifters are advected along isopycnals for a period of four years, unless they outcrop into the mixed layer, where lateral advection and a parameterization of vertical mixing is applied. The focus of this study is on the discrete exchange between the model mixed layer and the interior. Localization of interior-mixed layer exchange occurs downstream of major topographic features across the Indian and Pacific basins, creating “hotspots” of outcropping. Minimal outcropping occurs in the Atlantic basin, while 59% of drifters outcrop in the Pacific sector and in Drake Passage (the region from 140° W to 40° W), a disproportionately large amount even when considering the relative basin sizes. Due to spatial and temporal variations in mixed layer depth, the Lagrangian trajectories provide a statistical measure of mixed layer residence times. For each exchange into the mixed layer, the residence time has a Rayleigh distribution with a mean of 30 days; the cumulative residence time of the drifters is 261 ± 194 days, over a period of four years. These results suggest that certain oceanic gas concentrations, such as CO_2 and ^(14)C, will likely not reach equilibrium with the atmosphere before being re-subducted.