Abstract

The three-dimensional structure of the meridional overturning circulation (MOC) in the deep Indian Ocean is investigated with an eddy-permitting ocean model. The amplitude of the modeled deep Indian Ocean MOC is 5.6 Sv (1 Sv ≡ 10⁶ m³ s⁻¹), a broadly realistic but somewhat weak overturning. Although the model parameterization of diapycnal mixing is inaccurate, the model’s short spinup allows the effective diapycnal velocity (the sum of model drift and the explicitly modeled diapycnal velocity) to resemble the true, real-ocean diapycnal velocity. For this reason, the model is able to recover the broad zonal asymmetry in the turbulent buoyancy flux that is suggested by observations. The model features a substantial deep, depth-reversing zonal circulation of nearly 50% of the MOC. The existence of this circulation, brought about by the zonally asymmetric distribution of diapycnal mixing, implies a much slower ventilation of the deep Indian Ocean (by a factor of 5–6) than would be in place without zonal interbasin exchanges. It is concluded that the zonal asymmetry in the distribution of diapycnal mixing must have a major impact on the deep Indian Ocean’s capacity to store and transform climatically significant physical and biogeochemical tracers.

Abstract

The insensitivity of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC)’s prominent isopycnal slope to changes in wind stress is thought to stem from the action of mesoscale eddies that counterbalance the wind-driven Ekman overturning—a framework verified in zonally symmetric circumpolar flows. Substantial zonal variations in eddy characteristics suggest that local dynamics may modify this balance along the path of the ACC. Analysis of an eddy-resolving ocean GCM shows that the ACC can be broken into broad regions of weak eddy activity, where surface winds steepen isopycnals, and a small number of standing meanders, across which the isopycnals relax. Meanders are coincident with sites of (i) strong eddy-induced modification of the mean flow and its vertical structure as measured by the divergence of the Eliassen–Palm flux and (ii) enhancement of deep eddy kinetic energy by up to two orders of magnitude over surrounding regions. Within meanders, the vorticity budget shows a balance between the advection of relative vorticity and horizontal divergence, providing a mechanism for the generation of strong vertical velocities and rapid changes in stratification. Temporal fluctuations in these diagnostics are correlated with variability in both the Eliassen–Palm flux and bottom speed, implying a link to dissipative processes at the ocean floor. At larger scales, bottom pressure torque is spatially correlated with the barotropic advection of planetary vorticity, which links to variations in meander structure. From these results, it is proposed that the “flexing” of standing meanders provides an alternative mechanism for reducing the sensitivity of the ACC’s baroclinicity to changes in forcing, separate from an ACC-wide change in transient eddy characteristics.

Abstract

The parameterization of geostrophic eddies represents a large sink of energy in most ocean models, yet the ultimate fate of this eddy energy in the ocean remains unclear. The authors conjecture that a significant fraction of the eddy energy may be transferred to internal lee waves and oscillations over rough bottom topography, leading to bottom-enhanced diapycnal mixing. A range of circumstantial evidence in support of this conjecture is presented and discussed. The authors further propose a modification to the Gent and McWilliams eddy parameterization to account for the bottom-enhanced diapycnal mixing.

Abstract

The finescale parameterization, formulated on the basis of a weak nonlinear wave–wave interaction theory, is widely used to estimate the turbulent dissipation rate ε. However, this parameterization has previously been found to overestimate ε in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC). One possible reason for this overestimation is that vertical wavenumber spectra of internal wave energy are distorted from the canonical Garrett–Munk spectrum by a spectral hump at low wavenumbers (~0.01 cpm). Such distorted vertical wavenumber spectra were also observed in other mesoscale eddy-rich regions. In this study, using eikonal simulations, in which internal wave energy cascades are evaluated in the frequency–wavenumber space, we examine how the distortion of vertical wavenumber spectra impacts the accuracy of the finescale parameterization. It is shown that the finescale parameterization overestimates ε for distorted spectra with a low-vertical-wavenumber hump because it incorrectly takes into account the breaking of these low-vertical-wavenumber internal waves. This issue is exacerbated by estimating internal wave energy spectral levels from the low-wavenumber band rather than from the high-wavenumber band, which is often contaminated by noise in observations. Thus, to accurately estimate the distribution of ε in eddy-rich regions like the ACC, high-vertical-wavenumber spectral information free from noise contamination is indispensable.

Abstract

This study reports on observations of turbulent dissipation and internal wave-scale flow properties in a standing meander of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) north of the Kerguelen Plateau. The authors characterize the intensity and spatial distribution of the observed turbulent dissipation and the derived turbulent mixing, and consider underpinning mechanisms in the context of the internal wave field and the processes governing the waves’ generation and evolution.

The turbulent dissipation rate and the derived diapycnal diffusivity are highly variable with systematic depth dependence. The dissipation rate is generally enhanced in the upper 1000–1500 m of the water column, and both the dissipation rate and diapycnal diffusivity are enhanced in some places near the seafloor, commonly in regions of rough topography and in the vicinity of strong bottom flows associated with the ACC jets. Turbulent dissipation is high in regions where internal wave energy is high, consistent with the idea that interior dissipation is related to a breaking internal wave field. Elevated turbulence occurs in association with downward-propagating near-inertial waves within 1–2 km of the surface, as well as with upward-propagating, relatively high-frequency waves within 1–2 km of the seafloor. While an interpretation of these near-bottom waves as lee waves generated by ACC jets flowing over small-scale topographic roughness is supported by the qualitative match between the spatial patterns in predicted lee wave radiation and observed near-bottom dissipation, the observed dissipation is found to be only a small percentage of the energy flux predicted by theory. The mismatch suggests an alternative fate to local dissipation for a significant fraction of the radiated energy.

Abstract

An inverse box model of the Scotia Sea is constructed using hydrographic, tracer, and velocity data collected along the rim of the basin during the Antarctic Large-Scale Box Analysis and the Role of the Scotia Sea (ALBATROSS) cruise. The model provides an estimate of the time-mean three-dimensional circulation as the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) crosses the region. It concurrently solves for geostrophic and wind-driven Ekman transports across the boundaries of the basin, air–sea-driven diapycnal fluxes, and “interior” diapycnal fluxes below the ocean surface. An increase is diagnosed in the ACC volume transport from 143 ± 13 Sv (Sv ≡ 10⁶ m³ s⁻¹) at Drake Passage to 149 ± 16 Sv on leaving the Scotia Sea, supplied by the import of 5.9 ± 1.7 Sv of Weddell Sea Deep Water (WSDW) over the South Scotia Ridge. There is a lateral redistribution of the transport, primarily in response to a topographically induced branching of the 70–80 Sv polar front (PF) jet and an increase in the transport associated with the subantarctic front (SAF) from 31 ± 7 to 48 ± 4 Sv. A vertical rearrangement of the transport also occurs, with differences O(2 Sv) in the transports of intermediate and deep water masses. These volume transport changes are accompanied by a net reduction (increase) in the heat (freshwater) flux associated with the ACC by 0.02 ± 0.020 PW (0.020 ± 0.017 Sv), the main cause of which is the cooling and freshening of the Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) layer in the Scotia Sea. The model suggests that the Scotia Sea hosts intense diapycnal mixing in the ocean interior extending 1500–2000 m above the rough topography of the basin. Despite these model results, no evidence is found for a significant diapycnal link between the upper and lower classes of CDW (and hence between the “shallow” and “deep” cells of the Southern Ocean meridional overturning circulation). On the contrary, the boundary between Upper and Lower CDW separates two distinct regimes of diapycnal mixing involving volume fluxes of 1–3 Sv. Whereas in the denser waters topographic mixing is important, in lighter layers air–sea-driven diapycnal volume fluxes are dominant and diapycnal transfers of heat and freshwater are mainly effected by upper-ocean mixing processes. The model indicates that the ventilation of the deep ACC in the Scotia Sea is driven primarily by isopycnal exchanges with the northern Weddell Sea and to a lesser extent by diapycnal mixing with WSDW. The model reveals the existence of a mesoscale eddy-driven overturning circulation across the ACC core involving an isopycnal poleward transport of 8 ± 1 Sv of CDW and an equatorward transport of intermediate water of the same magnitude. This circulation induces a cross-ACC poleward heat flux of 0.022 ± 0.009 PW and an equatorward freshwater flux of 0.02 ± 0.01 Sv. Adequately scaled, the former compares favorably to measurements of the cross-stream eddy heat flux by moored current meters and floats in the ACC and to budget estimates of the circumpolar cross-ACC heat flux.

Abstract

The Southern Ocean hosts the formation of the densest layers of the oceanic overturning circulation and provides a climatically sensitive element of deep ocean ventilation. An oceanographic section across the eastern Scotia Sea occupied in 1995, 1999, and 2005 reveals significant variability in the deep and bottom waters of Southern Ocean origin. Warming (∼0.1°C) of the warm midlayer waters in the Scotia Sea between 1995 and 1999 reversed through to 2005, reflecting changes seen earlier upstream in the Weddell Sea. The volume of deep waters with potential temperature less than 0°C decreased during 1995–2005, though such a reduction was only clear between 1995 and 1999 at the southern end of the section. The abyssal waters of the eastern Scotia Sea changed circulation between 1995 and 1999, with the dominant point of their entry to the basin shifting from the south to the northeast; by 2005, the former route had regained dominance. These changes are best explained by interannual variations in the deep waters exiting the Weddell Sea, superimposed on a longer-term (decadal) warming trend. The interannual variations are related to changes in the strength of the Weddell Gyre, reflecting large-scale atmospheric variability that may include the El Niño–Southern Oscillation phenomenon. The Scotia Sea is the most direct pathway for dense waters of the overturning circulation emanating from the Weddell Sea to fill much of the World Ocean abyss. The regional changes reported here have the potential to affect the climatically significant ventilation of the global ocean abyss.

Abstract

A study of mesoscale subduction at the Antarctic Polar Front (PF) is conducted by use of hydrographic data from a high-resolution, quasi-synoptic survey of the front. The geostrophic velocity and isopycnal potential vorticity (PV) fields are computed, and the ageostrophic flow diagnosed from the semigeostrophic omega equation. It is found that the ageostrophic circulation induced by baroclinic instability counteracts the frontogenesis and frontolysis effected by the confluence and difluence, respectively, of the geostrophic velocity field. Though the sense of the ageostrophic circulation is reversed repeatedly along the front, the existence of PV gradients along isopycnals leads to a net cross-front “bolus” transport. In response to a reversal of this gradient with depth (a necessary condition for the onset of baroclinic instability), the bolus transport is northward at the protruding temperature minimum layer that characterizes the PF, and southward above. This net cross-front overturning circulation acts to flatten the isopycnals of the front and results in a subduction of the temperature minimum layer as it progresses northward along isopycnals. Consistently, a net baroclinic conversion rate of approximately 1 cm² s⁻² d⁻¹, corresponding to a net subduction rate of O(20 m yr⁻¹), is calculated in the survey area. The similarity between the PV field of the PF and other Southern Ocean fronts suggests that the authors' results may also be applicable there. This has profound implications for the understanding of the zonation of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current.

Abstract

The abyssal ocean is primarily filled by cold, dense waters formed around Antarctica and collectively referred to as Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW). At steady state, AABW must be consumed in the ocean interior at the same rate it is produced, but how and where this consumption is achieved remains poorly understood. Here, estimates of abyssal water mass transformation by geothermal heating and parameterized internal wave–driven mixing are presented. This study uses maps of the energy input to internal waves by tidal and geostrophic motions interacting with topography combined with assumptions about the distribution of energy dissipation to evaluate dianeutral transports induced by breaking internal tides and lee waves. Geothermal transformation is assessed based on a map of geothermal heat fluxes. Under the hypotheses underlying the constructed climatologies of buoyancy fluxes, the authors calculate that locally dissipating internal tides and geothermal heating contribute, respectively, about 8 and 5 Sverdrups (Sv; 1 Sv ≡ 10⁶ m³ s⁻¹) of AABW consumption (upwelling), mostly north of 30°S. In contrast, parameterized lee wave–driven mixing causes significant transformation only in the Southern Ocean, where it forms about 3 Sv of AABW, decreasing the mean density but enhancing the northward flow of abyssal waters. The possible role of remotely dissipating internal tides in complementing AABW consumption is explored based on idealized distributions of mixing energy. Depending mostly on the chosen vertical structure, such mixing could drive 1 to 28 Sv of additional AABW upwelling, highlighting the need to better constrain the spatial distribution of remote dissipation. Though they carry large uncertainties, these climatological transformation estimates shed light on the qualitative functioning and key unknowns of the diabatic overturning.

Abstract

In studies of ocean mixing, it is generally assumed that small-scale turbulent overturns lose 15%–20% of their energy in eroding the background stratification. Accumulating evidence that this energy fraction, or mixing efficiency R _f , significantly varies depending on flow properties challenges this assumption, however. Here, the authors examine the implications of a varying mixing efficiency for ocean energetics and deep-water mass transformation. Combining current parameterizations of internal wave-driven mixing with a recent model expressing R _f as a function of a turbulence intensity parameter Re _b = ε _ν /νN ², the ratio of dissipation ε _ν to stratification N ² and molecular viscosity ν, it is shown that accounting for reduced mixing efficiencies in regions of weak stratification or energetic turbulence (high Re _b ) strongly limits the ability of breaking internal waves to supply oceanic potential energy and drive abyssal upwelling. Moving from a fixed R _f = 1/6 to a variable efficiency R _f (Re _b ) causes Antarctic Bottom Water upwelling induced by locally dissipating internal tides and lee waves to fall from 9 to 4 Sverdrups (Sv; 1 Sv ≡ 10⁶ m³ s⁻¹) and the corresponding potential energy source to plunge from 97 to 44 GW. When adding the contribution of remotely dissipating internal tides under idealized distributions of energy dissipation, the total rate of Antarctic Bottom Water upwelling is reduced by about a factor of 2, reaching 5–15 Sv, compared to 10–33 Sv for a fixed efficiency. The results suggest that distributed mixing, overflow-related boundary processes, and geothermal heating are more effective in consuming abyssal waters than topographically enhanced mixing by breaking internal waves. These calculations also point to the importance of accurately constraining R _f (Re _b ) and including the effect in ocean models.