Rates and mechanisms of turbulent dissipation and mixing in the Southern Ocean : results from the Diapycnal and Isopycnal Mixing Experiment in the Southern Ocean (DIMES)

• Published in: Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans
• Main Authors: Sheen, Katy L., Brearley, J. Alexander, Naveira Garabato, Alberto C., Smeed, David A., Waterman, Stephanie N., Ledwell, James R., Meredith, Michael P., St. Laurent, Louis C., Thurnherr, Andreas M., Toole, John M., Watson, Andrew J.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: John Wiley & Sons 2013
• Subjects: Turbulent dissipation; Internal wave; Antarctic Circumpolar Current; Mixing; Antarctic; Southern Ocean; The Antarctic; Scotia Sea; Pacific; Antarc*
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/1912/6303

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2013. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 118 (2013): 2774–2792, doi:10.1002/jgrc.20217. The spatial distribution of turbulent dissipation rates and internal wavefield characteristics is analyzed across two contrasting regimes of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), using microstructure and finestructure data collected as part of the Diapycnal and Isopycnal Mixing Experiment in the Southern Ocean (DIMES). Mid-depth turbulent dissipation rates are found to increase from inline image in the Southeast Pacific to inline image in the Scotia Sea, typically reaching inline image within a kilometer of the seabed. Enhanced levels of turbulent mixing are associated with strong near-bottom flows, rough topography, and regions where the internal wavefield is found to have enhanced energy, a less-inertial frequency content and a dominance of upward propagating energy. These results strongly suggest that bottom-generated internal waves play a major role in determining the spatial distribution of turbulent dissipation in the ACC. The energy flux associated with the bottom internal wave generation process is calculated using wave radiation theory, and found to vary between 0.8 mW m−2 in the Southeast Pacific and 14 mW m−2 in the Scotia Sea. Typically, 10%–30% of this energy is found to dissipate within 1 km of the seabed. Comparison between turbulent dissipation rates inferred from finestructure parameterizations and microstructure-derived estimates suggests a significant departure from wave-wave interaction physics in the near-field of wave generation sites. The DIMES experiment is supported by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) of the U.K. and U.S. National Science Foundation. K.L.S. and J.A.B. are supported by NERC. 2013-12-04