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The ocean temperature response to tropical cyclones (TCs) is important for TC development, local air–sea interactions, and the global air–sea heat budget and transport. The modulation of the upper ocean vertical temperature structure after a fast-moving TC was studied at the observation stations in the northern South China Sea, including TCs Kalmaegi (2014), Rammasun (2014), Sarika (2016), and Haima (2016). The upper ocean temperature and heat response to the TCs mainly depended on the combined effect of mixing and vertical advection. Mixing cooled the sea surface and warmed the subsurface, while upwelling (downwelling) reduced (increased) the subsurface warm anomaly and cooled (warmed) the deeper ocean. An ideal parameterization that depends on only the nondimensional mixing depth ( H E ), nondimensional transition layer thickness ( H T ), and nondimensional upwelling depth ( H U ) was able to roughly reproduce sea surface temperature (SST) and upper ocean heat change. After TCs, the subsurface heat anomalies moved into the deeper ocean. The air–sea surface heat flux contributed little to the upper ocean temperature anomaly during the TC forcing stage and did not recover the surface ocean back to pre-TC conditions more than one and a half months after the TC. This work shows how upper ocean temperature and heat content varies by a TC, indicating that TC-induced mixing modulates the warm surface water into the subsurface, and TC-induced advection further modulates the warm water into the deeper ocean and influences the ocean heat budget.

A buoyancy and volume budget analysis of bottom-intensified mixing in the abyssal ocean reveals simple expressions for the strong upwelling in very thin continental boundary layers and the interior near-boundary downwelling in the stratified ocean interior. For a given amount of Antarctic Bottom Water that is upwelled through neutral density surfaces in the abyssal ocean (between 2000 and 5000 m), up to 5 times this volume flux is upwelled in narrow, turbulent, sloping bottom boundary layers, while up to 4 times the net upward volume transport of Bottom Water flows downward across isopycnals in the near-boundary stratified ocean interior. These ratios are a direct result of a buoyancy budget with respect to buoyancy surfaces, and these ratios are calculated from knowledge of the stratification in the abyss along with the assumed e -folding height that characterizes the decrease of the magnitude of the turbulent diapycnal buoyancy flux away from the seafloor. These strong diapycnal upward and downward volume transports are confined to a few hundred kilometers of the continental boundaries, with no appreciable diapycnal motion in the bulk of the interior ocean.

We present observational estimates of Ekman pumping in the Beaufort Gyre region. Averaged over the Canada Basin, the results show a 2003–14 average of 2.3 m yr −1 downward with strong seasonal and interannual variability superimposed: monthly and yearly means range from 30 m yr −1 downward to 10 m yr −1 upward. A clear, seasonal cycle is evident with intense downwelling in autumn and upwelling during the winter months, despite the wind forcing being downwelling favorable year-round. Wintertime upwelling is associated with friction between the large-scale Beaufort Gyre ocean circulation and the surface ice pack and contrasts with previous estimates of yearlong downwelling; as a consequence, the yearly cumulative Ekman pumping over the gyre is significantly reduced. The spatial distribution of Ekman pumping is also modified, with the Beaufort Gyre region showing alternating, moderate upwelling and downwelling, while a more intense, yearlong downwelling averaging 18 m yr −1 is identified in the northern Chukchi Sea region. Implications of the results for understanding Arctic Ocean dynamics and change are discussed.

Wind‐driven coastal upwelling delivers nutrients to the surface waters and enhances primary productivity. In contrast, downwelling transports nutrient‐depleted water away from the surface and is usually presumed to decrease primary production. Here, we show that processes during downwelling can actually pump nutrients into previously nutrient‐depleted density layers to fuel primary production. Our in situ data collected from the Southern California Bight showed that downwelling‐favorable winds deepened near‐surface isopycnals to the bottom boundary layer, followed by a rapid nitrate increase (4 mmol N m−3 within days) on those isopycnals. This increase in nitrate and changes in temperature and salinity were consistent with elevated diapycnal mixing. Excess nitrate was subsequently advected from the boundary into the ocean interior, replenishing offshore concentrations. Together, these findings reveal a mechanism of nutrient redistribution by wind forcing, mixing at the margin, and along‐isopycnal transport, highlighting the importance of bottom boundary layer mixing and lateral exchange to nutrient dynamics in wind‐forced regions.

Small-scale mixing drives the diabatic upwelling that closes the abyssal ocean overturning circulation. Indirect microstructure measurements of in-situ turbulence suggest that mixing is bottom-enhanced over rough topography, implying downwelling in the interior and stronger upwelling in a sloping bottom boundary layer. Tracer Release Experiments (TREs), in which inert tracers are purposefully released and their dispersion is surveyed over time, have been used to independently infer turbulent diffusivities—but typically provide estimates in excess of microstructure ones. In an attempt to reconcile these differences, Ruan and Ferrari (2021) derived exact tracer-weighted buoyancy moment diagnostics, which we here apply to quasi-realistic simulations. A tracer’s diapycnal displacement rate is exactly twice the tracer-averaged buoyancy velocity, itself a convolution of an asymmetric upwelling/downwelling dipole. The tracer’s diapycnal spreading rate, however, involves both the expected positive contribution from the tracer-averaged in-situ diffusion as well as an additional non-linear diapycnal distortion term, which is caused by correlations between buoyancy and the buoyancy velocity, and can be of either sign. Distortion is generally positive (stretching) due to bottom-enhanced mixing in the stratified interior but negative (contraction) near the bottom. Our simulations suggest that these two effects coincidentally cancel for the Brazil Basin Tracer Release Experiment, resulting in negligible net distortion. By contrast, near-bottom tracers experience leading-order distortion that varies in time. Errors in tracer moments due to realistically sparse sampling are generally small (< 20%), especially compared to the O (1) structural errors due to the omission of distortion effects in inverse models. These results suggest that TREs, although indispensable, should not be treated as “unambiguous” constraints on diapycnal mixing.

Marine heatwaves (MHWs) are extreme climatic events that can have a significant impact on marine ecosystems and their services across the world. We examine the spatiotemporal variation of summer MHWs in the north Indian Ocean (NIO) and find that the whole NIO Basin exhibits a pronounced spatial variability as well as a significant increasing trend in MHW frequency. We show that the NIO has two leading MHW modes linked to two distinct sea surface temperature (SST) patterns during summer. The first MHW mode is associated with basinwide warming, which is preconditioned by a decaying El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and sustained throughout the summer by anomalous northeasterlies extending from the anticyclonic circulation of the western North Pacific subtropical high (WNPSH). The combined effect of thermocline warming due to downwelling oceanic planetary waves, decreased wind-induced evaporative cooling, and enhanced insolation cause basinwide summer MHWs. The second MHW mode exhibits a zonal dipole pattern, which has unfavorable cooling conditions in the previous seasons. The second MHW mode is associated with a phase change of ENSO and is greatly influenced by the formation of an interhemispheric pressure difference (IHPD) due to strengthening of the Australian high (AH) and weakening of the WNPSH. The IHPD induces cross-equatorial southerly winds across the eastern Indian Ocean. These winds favor the transformation of basinwide cooling conditions into zonal SST patterns via wind–evaporation–SST and thermocline–SST feedback, causing MHWs with a zonal dipole pattern. These MHW modes have a significant influence on the distribution and intensity of summer precipitation in the NIO.

The downwelling longwave radiation at the surface (DLR) is a key component of the Earth's surface energy budget. We present a novel set of equations that explicitly account for both clouds and the CO2$\\mathrm{C}{\\mathrm{O}}_{\\mathrm{2}}$effect to calculate the all‐sky DLR. This paper first extends the clear‐sky DLR model of Shakespeare and Roderick (2021, https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.4176) to include temperature inversions and clouds. We parameterize relevant cloud properties through theoretical and empirical considerations to formulate an all‐sky model. Our model is more accurate than existing methods (reduces Root Mean Squared Error by 2.1–8.7 W/m2$\\mathrm{W}/{\\mathrm{m}}^{\\mathrm{2}}$and 1.2–10.1 W/m2$\\mathrm{W}/{\\mathrm{m}}^{\\mathrm{2}}$compared to ERA5 reanalysis and in‐situ data respectively), and provides a strong physical basis for the estimation of the downwelling longwave from near‐surface information. We highlight the important role of CO2$\\mathrm{C}{\\mathrm{O}}_{\\mathrm{2}}$dependence by showing our model largely captures the change in atmospheric emissivity purely due to CO2$\\mathrm{C}{\\mathrm{O}}_{\\mathrm{2}}$(i.e., the instantaneous radiative forcing) in CMIP6 models. Plain Language Summary The downwelling longwave radiation (DLR) at the surface is a key component of the energy balance at the Earth's surface. Understanding how the DLR will change under future climate conditions is vital. For the first time, we explicitly write a set of equations to calculate the DLR that sufficiently account for the impact of CO2$\\mathrm{C}{\\mathrm{O}}_{\\mathrm{2}}$and clouds simultaneously. Our model is more accurate than existing methods, and provides a much stronger physical basis for the estimation of the downwelling longwave from near‐surface information. In this paper, we extend an existing method for estimating the DLR under clear‐sky conditions (i.e., no clouds) to operate under all sky conditions. This method can be used to inform models where the DLR is needed, but only basic observations are available. Key Points Downwelling longwave radiation (DLR) is a poorly estimated element of the surface energy budget by existing analytical models Explicitly accounting for temperature inversions and cloud emissivities improves the accuracy of DLR estimation Considering the radiative forcing from increasing CO2$\\mathrm{C}{\\mathrm{O}}_{\\mathrm{2}}$is necessary to produce unbiased future estimates of DLR

The abyssal overturning circulation is thought to be primarily driven by small-scale turbulent mixing. Diagnosed watermass transformations are dominated by rough topography “hotspots”, where the bottom-enhancement of mixing causes the diffusive buoyancy flux to diverge, driving widespread downwelling in the interior—only to be overwhelmed by an even stronger up-welling in a thin Bottom Boundary Layer (BBL). These watermass transformations are significantly underestimated by one-dimensional (1D) sloping boundary layer solutions, suggesting the importance of three-dimensional physics. Here, we use a hierarchy of models to generalize this 1D boundary layer approach to three-dimensional eddying flows over realistically rough topography. When applied to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge in the Brazil Basin, the idealized simulation results are roughly consistent with available observations. Integral buoyancy budgets isolate the physical processes that contribute to realistically strong BBL upwelling. The downwards diffusion of buoyancy is primarily balanced by upwelling along the sloping canyon sidewalls and the surrounding abyssal hills. These flows are strengthened by the restratifying effects of submesoscale baroclinic eddies and by the blocking of along-ridge thermal wind within the canyon. Major topographic sills block along-thalweg flows from restratifying the canyon trough, resulting in the continual erosion of the trough’s stratification. We propose simple modifications to the 1D boundary layer model which approximate each of these three-dimensional effects. These results provide local dynamical insights into mixing-driven abyssal overturning, but a complete theory will also require the non-local coupling to the basin-scale circulation.

The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), vital for northwards heat transport in the Atlantic Ocean, is projected to weaken owing to global warming 1 , with significant global climate impacts 2 . However, the extent of AMOC weakening is uncertain with wide variation across climate models 1 , 3 , 4 and some statistical indicators suggesting an imminent collapse 5 . Here we show that the AMOC is resilient to extreme greenhouse gas and North Atlantic freshwater forcings across 34 climate models. Upwelling in the Southern Ocean, driven by persistent Southern Ocean winds, sustains a weakened AMOC in all cases, preventing its complete collapse. As Southern Ocean upwelling must be balanced by downwelling in the Atlantic or Pacific, the AMOC can only collapse if a compensating Pacific Meridional Overturning Circulation (PMOC) develops. Remarkably, a PMOC does emerge in almost all models, but it is too weak to balance all of the Southern Ocean upwelling, suggesting that an AMOC collapse is unlikely this century. Our findings reveal AMOC-stabilizing mechanisms with implications for past and future AMOC changes, and hence for ecosystems and ocean biogeochemistry. They suggest that better understanding and estimates of the Southern Ocean and Indo-Pacific circulations are urgently needed to accurately predict future AMOC change. Climate models suggest that the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation is unlikely to collapse this century, owing to stabilization from wind-driven upwelling in the Southern Ocean.