Frontogenesis and Subduction at the Alboran Front

Abstract

This proposal is for a pilot field campaign and modeling efforts to study vertical motion at anoceanic front. The Alboran Sea, which lies in the Western Mediterranean, is home to a quasipermanentfront that separates fresher Atlantic water entering the Mediterranean throughGibraltar, from the more saline and dense water of the Mediterranean. As the front intensifies, itgenerates an along-isopycnal vertical motion that is estimated to be of the order of 100 m perday. The objective is to measure or infer the frontal vertical velocity, estimate the associatedvertical mass flux, and understand the physical mechanisms that lead to the vertical motion.

Document Details

Document Type
DoD Grant Award
Publication Date
Nov 23, 2016
Source ID
N000141613130

Entities

People

  • Amala Mahadevan

Organizations

  • Office of Naval Research
  • United States Navy
  • Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Ocean-Atmosphere Mesoscale Modeling, Data Assimilation, and Flux Boundary Layers
  • Oceanography.

Technology Areas

  • AI & ML