Moored Flux and Dissipation Estimates from the Northern Deepwater Gulf of Mexico
Results from a pilot program to assess boundary mixing processes along the northern continental slope of the Gulf of Mexico are presented. We report a novel attempt to utilize a turbulence flux sensor on a conventional mooring. These data document many of the features expected of a stratified Ekman...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2021-06-01
|
| Series: | Fluids |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2311-5521/6/7/237 |
| _version_ | 1797528208154820608 |
|---|---|
| author | Kurt L. Polzin Binbin Wang Zhankun Wang Fred Thwaites Albert J. Williams |
| author_facet | Kurt L. Polzin Binbin Wang Zhankun Wang Fred Thwaites Albert J. Williams |
| author_sort | Kurt L. Polzin |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Results from a pilot program to assess boundary mixing processes along the northern continental slope of the Gulf of Mexico are presented. We report a novel attempt to utilize a turbulence flux sensor on a conventional mooring. These data document many of the features expected of a stratified Ekman layer: a buoyancy anomaly over a height less than that of the unstratified Ekman layer and an enhanced turning of the velocity vector with depth. Turbulent stress estimates have an appropriate magnitude and are aligned with the near-bottom velocity vector. However, the Ekman layer is time dependent on inertial-diurnal time scales. Cross slope momentum and temperature fluxes have significant contributions from this frequency band. Collocated turbulent kinetic energy dissipation and temperature variance dissipation estimates imply a dissipation ratio of 0.14 that is not sensibly different from canonical values for shear instability (0.2). This mixing signature is associated with production in the internal wave band rather than frequencies associated with turbulent shear production. Our results reveal that the expectation of a quasi-stationary response to quasi-stationary forcing in the guise of eddy variability is naive and a boundary layer structure that does not support recent theoretical assumptions concerning one-dimensional models of boundary mixing. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T09:55:54Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8fb101c2d8804f688069845fdfc325bb |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2311-5521 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T09:55:54Z |
| publishDate | 2021-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Fluids |
| spelling | doaj.art-8fb101c2d8804f688069845fdfc325bb2023-11-22T02:24:11ZengMDPI AGFluids2311-55212021-06-016723710.3390/fluids6070237Moored Flux and Dissipation Estimates from the Northern Deepwater Gulf of MexicoKurt L. Polzin0Binbin Wang1Zhankun Wang2Fred Thwaites3Albert J. Williams4Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USAGeochemical and Environmental Research Group, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77845, USANOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Stennis Space Center, MS 39529, USAWoods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USAWoods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USAResults from a pilot program to assess boundary mixing processes along the northern continental slope of the Gulf of Mexico are presented. We report a novel attempt to utilize a turbulence flux sensor on a conventional mooring. These data document many of the features expected of a stratified Ekman layer: a buoyancy anomaly over a height less than that of the unstratified Ekman layer and an enhanced turning of the velocity vector with depth. Turbulent stress estimates have an appropriate magnitude and are aligned with the near-bottom velocity vector. However, the Ekman layer is time dependent on inertial-diurnal time scales. Cross slope momentum and temperature fluxes have significant contributions from this frequency band. Collocated turbulent kinetic energy dissipation and temperature variance dissipation estimates imply a dissipation ratio of 0.14 that is not sensibly different from canonical values for shear instability (0.2). This mixing signature is associated with production in the internal wave band rather than frequencies associated with turbulent shear production. Our results reveal that the expectation of a quasi-stationary response to quasi-stationary forcing in the guise of eddy variability is naive and a boundary layer structure that does not support recent theoretical assumptions concerning one-dimensional models of boundary mixing.https://www.mdpi.com/2311-5521/6/7/237turbulencemixingbottom boundary layersstratified Ekman layer |
| spellingShingle | Kurt L. Polzin Binbin Wang Zhankun Wang Fred Thwaites Albert J. Williams Moored Flux and Dissipation Estimates from the Northern Deepwater Gulf of Mexico Fluids turbulence mixing bottom boundary layers stratified Ekman layer |
| title | Moored Flux and Dissipation Estimates from the Northern Deepwater Gulf of Mexico |
| title_full | Moored Flux and Dissipation Estimates from the Northern Deepwater Gulf of Mexico |
| title_fullStr | Moored Flux and Dissipation Estimates from the Northern Deepwater Gulf of Mexico |
| title_full_unstemmed | Moored Flux and Dissipation Estimates from the Northern Deepwater Gulf of Mexico |
| title_short | Moored Flux and Dissipation Estimates from the Northern Deepwater Gulf of Mexico |
| title_sort | moored flux and dissipation estimates from the northern deepwater gulf of mexico |
| topic | turbulence mixing bottom boundary layers stratified Ekman layer |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2311-5521/6/7/237 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT kurtlpolzin mooredfluxanddissipationestimatesfromthenortherndeepwatergulfofmexico AT binbinwang mooredfluxanddissipationestimatesfromthenortherndeepwatergulfofmexico AT zhankunwang mooredfluxanddissipationestimatesfromthenortherndeepwatergulfofmexico AT fredthwaites mooredfluxanddissipationestimatesfromthenortherndeepwatergulfofmexico AT albertjwilliams mooredfluxanddissipationestimatesfromthenortherndeepwatergulfofmexico |