2003: Effects of strait mixing on ocean stratification

Abstract. The density distribution in the abyssal Atlantic Ocean suggests that mixing associated with overflows across deep sills may account for substantial amounts of deep mixing. Estimates of the strait mixing are made from published estimates of the overflows and the difference between Antarctic...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Harry L. Bryden, George Nurser
Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
Format: Text
Language:English
Subjects:
Online Access:http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.583.9566
http://sprint.clivar.org/JRD/PROC/STRAIT/posters/bryden.pdf
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Summary:Abstract. The density distribution in the abyssal Atlantic Ocean suggests that mixing associated with overflows across deep sills may account for substantial amounts of deep mixing. Estimates of the strait mixing are made from published estimates of the overflows and the difference between Antarctic Bottom Water densities across the Vema Channel and the Romanche Fracture Zone to demonstrate that the strait mixing is an order of magnitude larger than the abyssal mixing estimated for a standard diffusivity of 1 x 10-4 m2 s-1.