The vertical structure of upper ocean variability at the Porcupine Abyssal Plain during 2012-2013
This study presents the characterization of variability in temperature, salinity and oxygen concentration, including the vertical structure of the variability, in the upper 1000 m of the ocean over a full year in the northeast Atlantic. Continuously profiling ocean gliders with vertical resolution b...
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American Geophysical Union
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JC011423 |
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ftcaltechauth:oai:authors.library.caltech.edu:d8v62-1cd96 2024-06-23T07:55:19+00:00 The vertical structure of upper ocean variability at the Porcupine Abyssal Plain during 2012-2013 Damerell, Gillian M. Heywood, Karen J. Thompson, Andrew F. Binetti, Umberto Kaiser, Jan 2016-05 https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JC011423 unknown American Geophysical Union http://bodc.ac.uk/ http://www.ecmwf.int/en/research/climate-reanalysis/era-interim http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/precip/CWlink/pna/nao.shtml http://aquarius.nasa.gov/ http://www.rapid.ac.uk/rapidmoc https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JC011423 oai:authors.library.caltech.edu:d8v62-1cd96 eprintid:71098 resolverid:CaltechAUTHORS:20161014-101531378 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Other Journal of Geophysical Research. Oceans, 121(5), 3075-3089, (2016-05) intraseasonal variability North Atlantic ocean gliders info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2016 ftcaltechauth https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JC011423 2024-06-12T06:19:42Z This study presents the characterization of variability in temperature, salinity and oxygen concentration, including the vertical structure of the variability, in the upper 1000 m of the ocean over a full year in the northeast Atlantic. Continuously profiling ocean gliders with vertical resolution between 0.5 and 1 m provide more information on temporal variability throughout the water column than time series from moorings with sensors at a limited number of fixed depths. The heat, salt and dissolved oxygen content are quantified at each depth. While the near surface heat content is consistent with the net surface heat flux, heat content of the deeper layers is driven by gyre-scale water mass changes. Below ∼150m, heat and salt content display intraseasonal variability which has not been resolved by previous studies. A mode-1 baroclinic internal tide is detected as a peak in the power spectra of water mass properties. The depth of minimum variability is at ∼415m for both temperature and salinity, but this is a depth of high variability for oxygen concentration. The deep variability is dominated by the intermittent appearance of Mediterranean Water, which shows evidence of filamentation. Susceptibility to salt fingering occurs throughout much of the water column for much of the year. Between about 700–900 m, the water column is susceptible to diffusive layering, particularly when Mediterranean Water is present. This unique ability to resolve both high vertical and temporal variability highlights the importance of intraseasonal variability in upper ocean heat and salt content, variations that may be aliased by traditional observing techniques. © 2016. The Authors. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Received 2 NOV 2015. Accepted 10 APR 2016. Accepted article online 13 APR 2016. Published online 13 MAY 2016. We would like to thank the ... Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic Northeast Atlantic Caltech Authors (California Institute of Technology) Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 121 5 3075 3089 |
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Open Polar |
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Caltech Authors (California Institute of Technology) |
op_collection_id |
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language |
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topic |
intraseasonal variability North Atlantic ocean gliders |
spellingShingle |
intraseasonal variability North Atlantic ocean gliders Damerell, Gillian M. Heywood, Karen J. Thompson, Andrew F. Binetti, Umberto Kaiser, Jan The vertical structure of upper ocean variability at the Porcupine Abyssal Plain during 2012-2013 |
topic_facet |
intraseasonal variability North Atlantic ocean gliders |
description |
This study presents the characterization of variability in temperature, salinity and oxygen concentration, including the vertical structure of the variability, in the upper 1000 m of the ocean over a full year in the northeast Atlantic. Continuously profiling ocean gliders with vertical resolution between 0.5 and 1 m provide more information on temporal variability throughout the water column than time series from moorings with sensors at a limited number of fixed depths. The heat, salt and dissolved oxygen content are quantified at each depth. While the near surface heat content is consistent with the net surface heat flux, heat content of the deeper layers is driven by gyre-scale water mass changes. Below ∼150m, heat and salt content display intraseasonal variability which has not been resolved by previous studies. A mode-1 baroclinic internal tide is detected as a peak in the power spectra of water mass properties. The depth of minimum variability is at ∼415m for both temperature and salinity, but this is a depth of high variability for oxygen concentration. The deep variability is dominated by the intermittent appearance of Mediterranean Water, which shows evidence of filamentation. Susceptibility to salt fingering occurs throughout much of the water column for much of the year. Between about 700–900 m, the water column is susceptible to diffusive layering, particularly when Mediterranean Water is present. This unique ability to resolve both high vertical and temporal variability highlights the importance of intraseasonal variability in upper ocean heat and salt content, variations that may be aliased by traditional observing techniques. © 2016. The Authors. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Received 2 NOV 2015. Accepted 10 APR 2016. Accepted article online 13 APR 2016. Published online 13 MAY 2016. We would like to thank the ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Damerell, Gillian M. Heywood, Karen J. Thompson, Andrew F. Binetti, Umberto Kaiser, Jan |
author_facet |
Damerell, Gillian M. Heywood, Karen J. Thompson, Andrew F. Binetti, Umberto Kaiser, Jan |
author_sort |
Damerell, Gillian M. |
title |
The vertical structure of upper ocean variability at the Porcupine Abyssal Plain during 2012-2013 |
title_short |
The vertical structure of upper ocean variability at the Porcupine Abyssal Plain during 2012-2013 |
title_full |
The vertical structure of upper ocean variability at the Porcupine Abyssal Plain during 2012-2013 |
title_fullStr |
The vertical structure of upper ocean variability at the Porcupine Abyssal Plain during 2012-2013 |
title_full_unstemmed |
The vertical structure of upper ocean variability at the Porcupine Abyssal Plain during 2012-2013 |
title_sort |
vertical structure of upper ocean variability at the porcupine abyssal plain during 2012-2013 |
publisher |
American Geophysical Union |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JC011423 |
genre |
North Atlantic Northeast Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic Northeast Atlantic |
op_source |
Journal of Geophysical Research. Oceans, 121(5), 3075-3089, (2016-05) |
op_relation |
http://bodc.ac.uk/ http://www.ecmwf.int/en/research/climate-reanalysis/era-interim http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/precip/CWlink/pna/nao.shtml http://aquarius.nasa.gov/ http://www.rapid.ac.uk/rapidmoc https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JC011423 oai:authors.library.caltech.edu:d8v62-1cd96 eprintid:71098 resolverid:CaltechAUTHORS:20161014-101531378 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Other |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JC011423 |
container_title |
Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans |
container_volume |
121 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
3075 |
op_container_end_page |
3089 |
_version_ |
1802647872072581120 |