Enhanced Diapycnal Diffusivity in Intrusive Regions of the Drake Passage

Direct measurements of oceanic turbulent parameters were taken upstream of and across Drake Passage, in the region of the Subantarctic and Polar Fronts. Values of turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rate ε estimated by microstructure are up to two orders of magnitude lower than previously published...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Laurent, Louis St (Author), Owens, Breck (Author), Thurnherr, Andreas M. (Author), Toole, John M. (Author), Merrifield, Sophia Tiare (Contributor)
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: American Meteorological Society, 2017-01-09T20:51:36Z.
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Online Access:Get fulltext
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100 1 0 |a Laurent, Louis St.  |e author 
100 1 0 |a Merrifield, Sophia Tiare  |e contributor 
700 1 0 |a Owens, Breck  |e author 
700 1 0 |a Thurnherr, Andreas M.  |e author 
700 1 0 |a Toole, John M.  |e author 
700 1 0 |a Merrifield, Sophia Tiare  |e author 
245 0 0 |a Enhanced Diapycnal Diffusivity in Intrusive Regions of the Drake Passage 
260 |b American Meteorological Society,   |c 2017-01-09T20:51:36Z. 
856 |z Get fulltext  |u http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/106308 
520 |a Direct measurements of oceanic turbulent parameters were taken upstream of and across Drake Passage, in the region of the Subantarctic and Polar Fronts. Values of turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rate ε estimated by microstructure are up to two orders of magnitude lower than previously published estimates in the upper 1000 m. Turbulence levels in Drake Passage are systematically higher than values upstream, regardless of season. The dissipation of thermal variance χ is enhanced at middepth throughout the surveys, with the highest values found in northern Drake Passage, where water mass variability is the most pronounced. Using the density ratio, evidence for double-diffusive instability is presented. Subject to double-diffusive physics, the estimates of diffusivity using the Osborn-Cox method are larger than ensemble statistics based on ε and the buoyancy frequency. 
520 |a National Science Foundation (U.S.) 
546 |a en_US 
655 7 |a Article 
773 |t Journal of Physical Oceanography