Letter to Nature. High mixing rates in the abyssal Southern Ocean
Mixing of water masses from the deep ocean to the layers above can be estimated from considerations of continuity in the global ocean overturning circulation. But averaged over ocean basins, diffusivity has been observed to be too small to account for the global upward flux of water, and high mixing...
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2002
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ftsouthampton:oai:eprints.soton.ac.uk:37546 2023-07-30T03:58:35+02:00 Letter to Nature. High mixing rates in the abyssal Southern Ocean Heywood, K.J. Naveira Garabato, A.C. Stevens, D.P. 2002 https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/37546/ unknown Heywood, K.J., Naveira Garabato, A.C. and Stevens, D.P. (2002) Letter to Nature. High mixing rates in the abyssal Southern Ocean. Nature, 415 (6875), 1011-1014. (doi:10.1038/4151011a <http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/4151011a>). Article PeerReviewed 2002 ftsouthampton https://doi.org/10.1038/4151011a 2023-07-09T20:47:01Z Mixing of water masses from the deep ocean to the layers above can be estimated from considerations of continuity in the global ocean overturning circulation. But averaged over ocean basins, diffusivity has been observed to be too small to account for the global upward flux of water, and high mixing intensities have only been found in the restricted areas close to sills and narrow gaps. Here we present observations from the Scotia Sea, a deep ocean basin between the Antarctic peninsula and the tip of South America, showing a high intensity of mixing that is unprecedented over such a large area. Using a budget calculation over the whole basin, we find a diffusivity of (39 +- 10) x 10^-4 m^2 s^-1, averaged over an area of 7 x 10^5 km^2. The Scotia Sea is a basin with a rough topography16, situated just east of the Drake passage where the strong flow of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current is constricted in width. The high basin-wide mixing intensity in this area of the Southern Ocean may help resolve the question of where the abyssal water masses are mixed towards the surface. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Drake Passage Scotia Sea Southern Ocean University of Southampton: e-Prints Soton Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Drake Passage Scotia Sea Southern Ocean The Antarctic Nature 415 6875 1011 1014 |
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Open Polar |
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University of Southampton: e-Prints Soton |
op_collection_id |
ftsouthampton |
language |
unknown |
description |
Mixing of water masses from the deep ocean to the layers above can be estimated from considerations of continuity in the global ocean overturning circulation. But averaged over ocean basins, diffusivity has been observed to be too small to account for the global upward flux of water, and high mixing intensities have only been found in the restricted areas close to sills and narrow gaps. Here we present observations from the Scotia Sea, a deep ocean basin between the Antarctic peninsula and the tip of South America, showing a high intensity of mixing that is unprecedented over such a large area. Using a budget calculation over the whole basin, we find a diffusivity of (39 +- 10) x 10^-4 m^2 s^-1, averaged over an area of 7 x 10^5 km^2. The Scotia Sea is a basin with a rough topography16, situated just east of the Drake passage where the strong flow of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current is constricted in width. The high basin-wide mixing intensity in this area of the Southern Ocean may help resolve the question of where the abyssal water masses are mixed towards the surface. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Heywood, K.J. Naveira Garabato, A.C. Stevens, D.P. |
spellingShingle |
Heywood, K.J. Naveira Garabato, A.C. Stevens, D.P. Letter to Nature. High mixing rates in the abyssal Southern Ocean |
author_facet |
Heywood, K.J. Naveira Garabato, A.C. Stevens, D.P. |
author_sort |
Heywood, K.J. |
title |
Letter to Nature. High mixing rates in the abyssal Southern Ocean |
title_short |
Letter to Nature. High mixing rates in the abyssal Southern Ocean |
title_full |
Letter to Nature. High mixing rates in the abyssal Southern Ocean |
title_fullStr |
Letter to Nature. High mixing rates in the abyssal Southern Ocean |
title_full_unstemmed |
Letter to Nature. High mixing rates in the abyssal Southern Ocean |
title_sort |
letter to nature. high mixing rates in the abyssal southern ocean |
publishDate |
2002 |
url |
https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/37546/ |
geographic |
Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Drake Passage Scotia Sea Southern Ocean The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Drake Passage Scotia Sea Southern Ocean The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Drake Passage Scotia Sea Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Drake Passage Scotia Sea Southern Ocean |
op_relation |
Heywood, K.J., Naveira Garabato, A.C. and Stevens, D.P. (2002) Letter to Nature. High mixing rates in the abyssal Southern Ocean. Nature, 415 (6875), 1011-1014. (doi:10.1038/4151011a <http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/4151011a>). |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/4151011a |
container_title |
Nature |
container_volume |
415 |
container_issue |
6875 |
container_start_page |
1011 |
op_container_end_page |
1014 |
_version_ |
1772821350546669568 |