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  • Rationalizing the Spatial Distribution of Mesoscale Eddy Diffusivity in Terms of Mixing Length Theory

    Author(s)
    Bates, Michael
    Tulloch, Ross
    Marshall, John
    Ferrari, Raffaele
    Griffith University Author(s)
    Bates, Michael
    Year published
    2014
    Metadata
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    Abstract
    Observations and theory suggest that lateral mixing by mesoscale ocean eddies only reaches its maximum potential at steering levels, surfaces at which the propagation speed of eddies approaches that of the mean flow. Away from steering levels, mixing is strongly suppressed because the mixing length is smaller than the eddy scale, thus reducing the mixing rates. The suppression is particularly pronounced in strong currents where mesoscale eddies are most energetic. Here, a framework for parameterizing eddy mixing is explored that attempts to capture this suppression. An expression of the surface eddy diffusivity proposed by ...
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    Observations and theory suggest that lateral mixing by mesoscale ocean eddies only reaches its maximum potential at steering levels, surfaces at which the propagation speed of eddies approaches that of the mean flow. Away from steering levels, mixing is strongly suppressed because the mixing length is smaller than the eddy scale, thus reducing the mixing rates. The suppression is particularly pronounced in strong currents where mesoscale eddies are most energetic. Here, a framework for parameterizing eddy mixing is explored that attempts to capture this suppression. An expression of the surface eddy diffusivity proposed by Ferrari and Nikurashin is evaluated using observations of eddy kinetic energy, eddy scale, and eddy propagation speed. The resulting global maps of eddy diffusivity have a broad correspondence with recent estimates of diffusivity based on the rate at which tracer contours are stretched by altimetric-derived surface currents. Finally, the expression for the eddy diffusivity is extrapolated in the vertical to infer the eddy-induced meridional heat transport and the overturning streamfunction.
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    Journal Title
    Journal of Physical Oceanography
    Volume
    44
    Issue
    6
    DOI
    https://doi.org/10.1175/JPO-D-13-0130.1
    Copyright Statement
    Self-archiving of the author-manuscript version is not yet supported by this journal. Please refer to the journal link for access to the definitive, published version or contact the authors for more information.
    Subject
    Oceanography
    Physical oceanography
    Maritime engineering
    Publication URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/10072/66780
    Collection
    • Journal articles

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