Meridional fluxes of dissolved silicon in the southern ocean

• Main Author: Jennings, Joe C.
• Other Authors: Gordon, Louis I., School of Oceanography, Oregon State University. Graduate School
• Format: Master Thesis
• Language: English; unknown
• Published: Oregon State University
• Subjects: Antarc*; Antarctic; Drake Passage; Southern Ocean
• Online Access: https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/vm40xv66f

Meridional fluxes of silica across the Southern Ocean polar front are attributed to two different processes which generally act in opposite directions. Equatorward low frequency fluxes of silica inferred from ISOS current meter data in the Drake Passage are approximately balanced by poleward meridional diffusion of silica along surfaces of constant potential density. Considering only these two processes, a balance of the silicon budget in the Circumpolar Current can be achieved. The poleward diffusive flux along shoaling density surfaces may uaintain the high silicon concentrations characteristic of Antarctic surface waters south of the frontal zone.