Overturning circulation driven by breaking internal waves in the deep ocean
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Ferrari_Overturning circulation.pdf
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Author(s)
Nikurashin, Maxim Anatolevich
Ferrari, Raffaele
Date Issued
June 2013
Journal
Geophysical Research Letters
Publisher
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Citation
Nikurashin, Maxim, and Raffaele Ferrari. “Overturning Circulation Driven by Breaking Internal Waves in the Deep Ocean.” Geophys. Res. Lett. 40, no. 12 (June 28, 2013): 3133–3137. Copyright © 2013 American Geophysical Union
Version
Final published version
Abstract
A global estimate of the water-mass transformation by internal wave-driven mixing in the deep ocean is presented. The estimate is based on the energy conversion from tidal and geostrophic motions into internal waves combined with a turbulent mixing parameterization. We show that internal wave-driven mixing in the deep ocean can sustain 20–30 Sv of water-mass transformation. One third or more of this transformation is attributed to lee waves generated by geostrophic motions flowing over rough topography, primarily in the Southern Ocean. While these results are uncertain due to many assumptions, poorly constrained parameters and data noise that enter in the calculation, the result that lee wave-driven mixing plays an important role in the abyssal ocean circulation is likely robust. The implication is that lee wave-driven mixing should be represented in ocean and climate models, but currently it is not.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
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Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1002/grl.50542
