Journal Article

Coherent Pathways for Vertical Transport from the Surface Ocean to Interior

D’Asaro, Eric, Rudnick, Daniel L., Pascual, Ananda, Ruiz, Simón, Tintoré, Joaquín, Mahadevan, Amala

2020

Overview

Understanding how finescale turbulent motions and 0.1–10 km submesoscale processes contribute to the large-scale budgets of nutrients, oxygen, carbon, and heat and affect sea surface temperature, the air–sea exchange of gases, and the carbon cycle is one of the key challenges in oceanography. The ocean, as the atmosphere, is largely in geostrophic balance at mesoscales (10–100 km) or larger scales. Since the horizontal pressure gradientforce (per unit mass) is balanced by Coriolis acceleration and the ocean is density stratified, vertical velocities are typically 1,000 to 10,000 times smaller than horizontal velocities at these scales. [...]the majority of vertical motion in the surface mixed layer changes direction before water parcels cross the base of the mixed layer and only a small fraction of trajectories cross the base of the mixed layer along outcropping isopycnals. Observing, understanding and predicting the three-dimensional pathways by which water from the surface ocean makes its way into the interior is the goal of an Office of Naval Research Departmental Research Initiative, “CALYPSO” (Coherent Lagrangian Pathways from the Surface Ocean to Interior).

• Publisher: American Meteorological Society
• Subject: Aerodynamics / Air temperature / Biogeochemistry / Carbon cycle / Chlorophyll / Coriolis acceleration / Coriolis force / Gases / Heat exchange / In Box / Isopycnals / Mixed layer / Nutrients / Oceanography / Oceans / Oxygen / Plankton / Sea surface / Sea surface temperature / Surface mixed layer / Surface temperature / Velocity / Vertical advection / Vertical motion / Vertical velocities