Rapid mixing and exchange of deep-ocean waters in an abyssal boundary current
The overturning circulation of the global ocean is critically shaped by deep-ocean mixing, which transforms cold waters sinking at high latitudes into warmer, shallower waters. The effectiveness of mixing in driving this transformation is jointly set by two factors: the intensity of turbulence near...
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ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:520649 2023-05-15T18:25:24+02:00 Rapid mixing and exchange of deep-ocean waters in an abyssal boundary current Naveira Garabato, Alberto C Frajka-Williams, Eleanor Spingys, Carl P Legg, Sonya Polzin, Kurt L Forryan, Alexander Abrahamsen, Povl Buckingham, Christian Griffies, Stephen M McPhail, Stephen Nicholls, Keith Thomas, Leif N Meredith, Michael 2019-07-02 text http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/520649/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/520649/1/1904087116.full.pdf https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2019/06/17/1904087116 en eng https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/520649/1/1904087116.full.pdf Naveira Garabato, Alberto C; Frajka-Williams, Eleanor orcid:0000-0001-8773-7838 Spingys, Carl P; Legg, Sonya; Polzin, Kurt L; Forryan, Alexander; Abrahamsen, Povl orcid:0000-0001-5924-5350 Buckingham, Christian orcid:0000-0001-9355-9038 Griffies, Stephen M; McPhail, Stephen; Nicholls, Keith orcid:0000-0002-2188-4509 Thomas, Leif N; Meredith, Michael orcid:0000-0002-7342-7756 . 2019 Rapid mixing and exchange of deep-ocean waters in an abyssal boundary current. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116 (27). 13233-13238. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1904087116 <https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1904087116> cc_by_4 CC-BY Publication - Article PeerReviewed 2019 ftnerc https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1904087116 2023-02-04T19:46:55Z The overturning circulation of the global ocean is critically shaped by deep-ocean mixing, which transforms cold waters sinking at high latitudes into warmer, shallower waters. The effectiveness of mixing in driving this transformation is jointly set by two factors: the intensity of turbulence near topography and the rate at which well-mixed boundary waters are exchanged with the stratified ocean interior. Here, we use innovative observations of a major branch of the overturning circulation—an abyssal boundary current in the Southern Ocean—to identify a previously undocumented mixing mechanism, by which deep-ocean waters are efficiently laundered through intensified near-boundary turbulence and boundary–interior exchange. The linchpin of the mechanism is the generation of submesoscale dynamical instabilities by the flow of deep-ocean waters along a steep topographic boundary. As the conditions conducive to this mode of mixing are common to many abyssal boundary currents, our findings highlight an imperative for its representation in models of oceanic overturning. Article in Journal/Newspaper Southern Ocean Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive Southern Ocean Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 116 27 13233 13238 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftnerc |
language |
English |
description |
The overturning circulation of the global ocean is critically shaped by deep-ocean mixing, which transforms cold waters sinking at high latitudes into warmer, shallower waters. The effectiveness of mixing in driving this transformation is jointly set by two factors: the intensity of turbulence near topography and the rate at which well-mixed boundary waters are exchanged with the stratified ocean interior. Here, we use innovative observations of a major branch of the overturning circulation—an abyssal boundary current in the Southern Ocean—to identify a previously undocumented mixing mechanism, by which deep-ocean waters are efficiently laundered through intensified near-boundary turbulence and boundary–interior exchange. The linchpin of the mechanism is the generation of submesoscale dynamical instabilities by the flow of deep-ocean waters along a steep topographic boundary. As the conditions conducive to this mode of mixing are common to many abyssal boundary currents, our findings highlight an imperative for its representation in models of oceanic overturning. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Naveira Garabato, Alberto C Frajka-Williams, Eleanor Spingys, Carl P Legg, Sonya Polzin, Kurt L Forryan, Alexander Abrahamsen, Povl Buckingham, Christian Griffies, Stephen M McPhail, Stephen Nicholls, Keith Thomas, Leif N Meredith, Michael |
spellingShingle |
Naveira Garabato, Alberto C Frajka-Williams, Eleanor Spingys, Carl P Legg, Sonya Polzin, Kurt L Forryan, Alexander Abrahamsen, Povl Buckingham, Christian Griffies, Stephen M McPhail, Stephen Nicholls, Keith Thomas, Leif N Meredith, Michael Rapid mixing and exchange of deep-ocean waters in an abyssal boundary current |
author_facet |
Naveira Garabato, Alberto C Frajka-Williams, Eleanor Spingys, Carl P Legg, Sonya Polzin, Kurt L Forryan, Alexander Abrahamsen, Povl Buckingham, Christian Griffies, Stephen M McPhail, Stephen Nicholls, Keith Thomas, Leif N Meredith, Michael |
author_sort |
Naveira Garabato, Alberto C |
title |
Rapid mixing and exchange of deep-ocean waters in an abyssal boundary current |
title_short |
Rapid mixing and exchange of deep-ocean waters in an abyssal boundary current |
title_full |
Rapid mixing and exchange of deep-ocean waters in an abyssal boundary current |
title_fullStr |
Rapid mixing and exchange of deep-ocean waters in an abyssal boundary current |
title_full_unstemmed |
Rapid mixing and exchange of deep-ocean waters in an abyssal boundary current |
title_sort |
rapid mixing and exchange of deep-ocean waters in an abyssal boundary current |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/520649/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/520649/1/1904087116.full.pdf https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2019/06/17/1904087116 |
geographic |
Southern Ocean |
geographic_facet |
Southern Ocean |
genre |
Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Southern Ocean |
op_relation |
https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/520649/1/1904087116.full.pdf Naveira Garabato, Alberto C; Frajka-Williams, Eleanor orcid:0000-0001-8773-7838 Spingys, Carl P; Legg, Sonya; Polzin, Kurt L; Forryan, Alexander; Abrahamsen, Povl orcid:0000-0001-5924-5350 Buckingham, Christian orcid:0000-0001-9355-9038 Griffies, Stephen M; McPhail, Stephen; Nicholls, Keith orcid:0000-0002-2188-4509 Thomas, Leif N; Meredith, Michael orcid:0000-0002-7342-7756 . 2019 Rapid mixing and exchange of deep-ocean waters in an abyssal boundary current. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116 (27). 13233-13238. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1904087116 <https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1904087116> |
op_rights |
cc_by_4 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1904087116 |
container_title |
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |
container_volume |
116 |
container_issue |
27 |
container_start_page |
13233 |
op_container_end_page |
13238 |
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1766206834222301184 |