Eddy stirring in the Southern Ocean
There is an ongoing debate concerning the distribution of eddy stirring across the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) and the nature of its controlling processes. The problem is addressed here by estimating the isentropic eddy diffusivity kappa from a collection of hydrographic and altimetric obser...
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fttriple:oai:gotriple.eu:10670/1.mzcvvv 2023-05-15T13:41:25+02:00 Eddy stirring in the Southern Ocean Garabato, A. C. Naveira Ferrari, R. Polzin, K. L. https://doi.org/10.1029/2010JC006818 https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00227/33813/32489.pdf https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00227/33813/32490.pdf https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00227/33813/32491.pdf https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00227/33813/ en eng Amer Geophysical Union doi:10.1029/2010JC006818 10670/1.mzcvvv https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00227/33813/32489.pdf https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00227/33813/32490.pdf https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00227/33813/32491.pdf https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00227/33813/ Archimer, archive institutionnelle de l'Ifremer Journal Of Geophysical Research-oceans (0148-0227) (Amer Geophysical Union), 2011-09 , Vol. 116 , N. C9 , P. C09019 geo envir Text https://vocabularies.coar-repositories.org/resource_types/c_18cf/ fttriple https://doi.org/10.1029/2010JC006818 2023-01-22T17:26:06Z There is an ongoing debate concerning the distribution of eddy stirring across the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) and the nature of its controlling processes. The problem is addressed here by estimating the isentropic eddy diffusivity kappa from a collection of hydrographic and altimetric observations, analyzed in a mixing length theoretical framework. It is shown that, typically, kappa is suppressed by an order of magnitude in the upper kilometer of the ACC frontal jets relative to their surroundings, primarily as a result of a local reduction of the mixing length. This observation is reproduced by a quasi-geostrophic theory of eddy stirring across a broad barotropic jet based on the scaling law derived by Ferrari and Nikurashin (2010). The theory interprets the observed widespread suppression of the mixing length and kappa in the upper layers of frontal jets as the kinematic consequence of eddy propagation relative to the mean flow within jet cores. Deviations from the prevalent regime of mixing suppression in the core of upper-ocean jets are encountered in a few special sites. Such 'leaky jet' segments appear to be associated with sharp stationary meanders of the mean flow that are generated by the interaction of the ACC with major topographic features. It is contended that the characteristic thermohaline structure of the Southern Ocean, consisting of multiple upper-ocean thermohaline fronts separated and underlaid by regions of homogenized properties, is largely a result of the widespread suppression of eddy stirring by parallel jets. Text Antarc* Antarctic Southern Ocean Unknown Antarctic Southern Ocean The Antarctic Journal of Geophysical Research 116 C9 |
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geo envir Garabato, A. C. Naveira Ferrari, R. Polzin, K. L. Eddy stirring in the Southern Ocean |
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geo envir |
description |
There is an ongoing debate concerning the distribution of eddy stirring across the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) and the nature of its controlling processes. The problem is addressed here by estimating the isentropic eddy diffusivity kappa from a collection of hydrographic and altimetric observations, analyzed in a mixing length theoretical framework. It is shown that, typically, kappa is suppressed by an order of magnitude in the upper kilometer of the ACC frontal jets relative to their surroundings, primarily as a result of a local reduction of the mixing length. This observation is reproduced by a quasi-geostrophic theory of eddy stirring across a broad barotropic jet based on the scaling law derived by Ferrari and Nikurashin (2010). The theory interprets the observed widespread suppression of the mixing length and kappa in the upper layers of frontal jets as the kinematic consequence of eddy propagation relative to the mean flow within jet cores. Deviations from the prevalent regime of mixing suppression in the core of upper-ocean jets are encountered in a few special sites. Such 'leaky jet' segments appear to be associated with sharp stationary meanders of the mean flow that are generated by the interaction of the ACC with major topographic features. It is contended that the characteristic thermohaline structure of the Southern Ocean, consisting of multiple upper-ocean thermohaline fronts separated and underlaid by regions of homogenized properties, is largely a result of the widespread suppression of eddy stirring by parallel jets. |
format |
Text |
author |
Garabato, A. C. Naveira Ferrari, R. Polzin, K. L. |
author_facet |
Garabato, A. C. Naveira Ferrari, R. Polzin, K. L. |
author_sort |
Garabato, A. C. Naveira |
title |
Eddy stirring in the Southern Ocean |
title_short |
Eddy stirring in the Southern Ocean |
title_full |
Eddy stirring in the Southern Ocean |
title_fullStr |
Eddy stirring in the Southern Ocean |
title_full_unstemmed |
Eddy stirring in the Southern Ocean |
title_sort |
eddy stirring in the southern ocean |
publisher |
Amer Geophysical Union |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2010JC006818 https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00227/33813/32489.pdf https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00227/33813/32490.pdf https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00227/33813/32491.pdf https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00227/33813/ |
geographic |
Antarctic Southern Ocean The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Southern Ocean The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Southern Ocean |
op_source |
Archimer, archive institutionnelle de l'Ifremer Journal Of Geophysical Research-oceans (0148-0227) (Amer Geophysical Union), 2011-09 , Vol. 116 , N. C9 , P. C09019 |
op_relation |
doi:10.1029/2010JC006818 10670/1.mzcvvv https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00227/33813/32489.pdf https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00227/33813/32490.pdf https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00227/33813/32491.pdf https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00227/33813/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2010JC006818 |
container_title |
Journal of Geophysical Research |
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116 |
container_issue |
C9 |
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1766150631135903744 |