Use of the High Resolution Profiler (HRP) in the Salt Finger Tracer Release Experiment (SFTRE)
Abstract
The Salt Finger Tracer Release Experiment (SFTRE) was conducted in the tropical North Atlantic in 2001. The experimental area was east of Barbados and is characterized by thermohaline staircase features prevalent in the depth range of 200-600 meters. The goal of this experiment was to quantify the distribution and intensity of vertical mixing in a region of thermohaline staircases. Two cruises were required to accomplish this goal: one to survey with the High Resolution Profiler (HRP) and inject sulfur hexalluoride (SF6) tracer, and another ten months later to map the spatial distribution of tracer and obtain additional estimates of diffusive and turbulent mixing rates using the HRP. The first cruise of the SFTRE experiment took place between January 15 and February 12, 2001 on the R/V Oceanus, leg 365-2 (OC365). An XBT survey identified an area of robust staircases that became the injection site. Then 175 kg of SF6 tracer was injected in nine streaks in a layer with temperature of about 10 deg C. When the injection mechanism was being replenished, HRP profiles were made in the area of the tracer patch. The profiles yielded estimates of the mixing rates at the start of the experiment. Near the end of the cruise, water samples from the patch were used to map the actual tracer distribution immediately after deployment.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 01, 2002
- Accession Number
- ADA406584
Entities
People
- Ellyn T. Montgomery
Organizations
- Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution