Impacts of submesoscale turbulence and internal waves on the energetics of the Atlantic Ocean
Abstract
The ocean is highly turbulent, with motions spanning a wide range ofspatial and temporal scales, all interacting together. The geostrophiceddy field, at horizontal scales of order 100 km, contains most of theocean kinetic energy. Such #balanced# motions tend to aggregate intolarger scales, following an inverse cascade of energy. However, alarge part of the energy dissipation needs to happenat much smallerscales. But how energy is transferred from the large scales to thevery small scales are still an open question. Submesoscale currents (1- 10 km) processes can provide a relaxation from the strictgeostrophic balance. They can extract energy from geostrophic flowsand transfer it to unbalanced motions, from where it may be cascadedto smallest scale where irreversible molecular mixing takesplace. Internal waves may also extract energy from the mesoscale orsubmesoscale currents. This collaborative project willinvestigatethese processes in high-resolution, high-frequency simulations of theAtlantic Ocean.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Feb 06, 2023
- Source ID
- N000142312226
Entities
People
- James C. McWilliams
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy
- University of California, Los Angeles