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Seasonality in submesoscale turbulence

Author

Listed:
  • Jörn Callies

    (MIT/WHOI Joint Program in Oceanography, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Building 54-1615, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge/Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02139, USA)

  • Raffaele Ferrari

    (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

  • Jody M. Klymak

    (University of Victoria)

  • Jonathan Gula

    (University of California)

Abstract

Although the strongest ocean surface currents occur at horizontal scales of order 100 km, recent numerical simulations suggest that flows smaller than these mesoscale eddies can achieve important vertical transports in the upper ocean. These submesoscale flows, 1–100 km in horizontal extent, take heat and atmospheric gases down into the interior ocean, accelerating air–sea fluxes, and bring deep nutrients up into the sunlit surface layer, fueling primary production. Here we present observational evidence that submesoscale flows undergo a seasonal cycle in the surface mixed layer: they are much stronger in winter than in summer. Submesoscale flows are energized by baroclinic instabilities that develop around geostrophic eddies in the deep winter mixed layer at a horizontal scale of order 1–10 km. Flows larger than this instability scale are energized by turbulent scale interactions. Enhanced submesoscale activity in the winter mixed layer is expected to achieve efficient exchanges with the permanent thermocline below.

Suggested Citation

  • Jörn Callies & Raffaele Ferrari & Jody M. Klymak & Jonathan Gula, 2015. "Seasonality in submesoscale turbulence," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 6(1), pages 1-8, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:6:y:2015:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms7862
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms7862
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    Cited by:

    1. Georgy E. Manucharyan & Andrew F. Thompson, 2022. "Heavy footprints of upper-ocean eddies on weakened Arctic sea ice in marginal ice zones," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.
    2. Bracco, Annalisa & Liu, Guangpeng & Sun, Daoxun, 2019. "Mesoscale-submesoscale interactions in the Gulf of Mexico: From oil dispersion to climate," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 63-72.

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