Submesoscale Routes to Lateral Mixing in the Ocean
Abstract
Long-Term Goals: To determine whether lateral mixing at O(1-10 km) scales is due to a balanced or unbalanced downscale cascade from the mesoscale, or due to local vertical mixing by internal waves and surface forcing. Objectives: Our work is testing hypothesis 3 of the white paper Scalable Lateral Mixing and Coherent Turbulence : Non-QG, submesoscale instabilities feed a forward cascade of energy, scalar and Ertel PV variance, which enhances both isopycnal and diapycnal mixing. Related hypotheses are that submesoscale variability is associated with coherent structures and anisotropic mixing. Further, submesoscale processes are inherently vertical, as well as horizontal, and that submesoscale processes facilitate cross-front exchange.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 30, 2011
- Accession Number
- ADA557088
Entities
People
- Amala Mahadevan
- Amit Tandon
Organizations
- University of Massachusetts Dartmouth