Recent observations of a multi-scale ocean
Abstract
Cascades of energy and tracer variance in the ocean are mediated by complex combinations of mesoscale, submesoscale and small-scale turbulent processes. Though many of these dynamics have often been considered through separate sets of equations, some of the most interesting work recently concerns intersections between sub-fields with partially overlapping characteristic space and time scales. For example, observations increasingly point to interactions between internal gravity waves and balanced or marginally balanced flows, between diurnal air-sea turbulent fluxes and sub-mesoscale upper ocean structures, between ocean frontal dynamics and sea ice melt. Here I'll review a range of innovative recent oceanic observational campaigns designed to explore these intersections, and comment on exciting open questions for the future.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019AGUFMNG41A..02M
- Keywords:
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- 4415 Cascades;
- NONLINEAR GEOPHYSICS;
- 4568 Turbulence;
- diffusion;
- and mixing processes;
- OCEANOGRAPHY: PHYSICAL;
- 5405 Atmospheres;
- PLANETARY SCIENCES: SOLID SURFACE PLANETS;
- 5430 Interiors;
- PLANETARY SCIENCES: SOLID SURFACE PLANETS