Suppression of Eddy Diffusivity across Jets in the Southern Ocean
Geostrophic eddies control the meridional mixing of heat, carbon, and other climatically important tracers in the Southern Ocean. The rate of eddy mixing is typically quantified through an eddy diffusivity. There is an ongoing debate as to whether eddy mixing in enhanced in the core of the Antarctic...
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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American Meteorological Society
2011
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/62572 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3736-1956 |
| _version_ | 1826213119977848832 |
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| author | Ferrari, Raffaele Nikurashin, Maxim Anatolevich |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Ferrari, Raffaele Nikurashin, Maxim Anatolevich |
| author_sort | Ferrari, Raffaele |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Geostrophic eddies control the meridional mixing of heat, carbon, and other climatically important tracers in the Southern Ocean. The rate of eddy mixing is typically quantified through an eddy diffusivity. There is an ongoing debate as to whether eddy mixing in enhanced in the core of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current or on its flanks. A simple expression is derived that predicts the rate of eddy mixing, that is, the eddy diffusivity, as a function of eddy and mean current statistics. This novel expression predicts suppression of the cross-jet eddy diffusivity in the core of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, despite enhanced values of eddy kinetic energy. The expression is qualitatively and quantitatively validated by independent estimates of eddy mixing from altimetry observations. This work suggests that the meridional eddy diffusivity across the Antarctic Circumpolar Current is weaker than presently assumed because of the suppression of eddy mixing by the strong zonal current. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T15:43:38Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/62572 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T15:43:38Z |
| publishDate | 2011 |
| publisher | American Meteorological Society |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/625722022-09-29T15:45:32Z Suppression of Eddy Diffusivity across Jets in the Southern Ocean Ferrari, Raffaele Nikurashin, Maxim Anatolevich Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Ferrari, Raffaele Ferrari, Raffaele Nikurashin, Maxim Anatolevich Geostrophic eddies control the meridional mixing of heat, carbon, and other climatically important tracers in the Southern Ocean. The rate of eddy mixing is typically quantified through an eddy diffusivity. There is an ongoing debate as to whether eddy mixing in enhanced in the core of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current or on its flanks. A simple expression is derived that predicts the rate of eddy mixing, that is, the eddy diffusivity, as a function of eddy and mean current statistics. This novel expression predicts suppression of the cross-jet eddy diffusivity in the core of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, despite enhanced values of eddy kinetic energy. The expression is qualitatively and quantitatively validated by independent estimates of eddy mixing from altimetry observations. This work suggests that the meridional eddy diffusivity across the Antarctic Circumpolar Current is weaker than presently assumed because of the suppression of eddy mixing by the strong zonal current. National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Award OCE-0825376) 2011-04-29T22:15:40Z 2011-04-29T22:15:40Z 2010-07 2010-02 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 0022-3670 1520-0485 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/62572 Ferrari, Raffaele, and Maxim Nikurashin. “Suppression of Eddy Diffusivity Across Jets in the Southern Ocean.” Journal of Physical Oceanography 40.7 (2010) : 1501-1519. Copyright c2010 American Meteorological Society https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3736-1956 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/2010jpo4278.1 Journal of Physical Oceanography 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. application/pdf American Meteorological Society American Meteorological Society |
| spellingShingle | Ferrari, Raffaele Nikurashin, Maxim Anatolevich Suppression of Eddy Diffusivity across Jets in the Southern Ocean |
| title | Suppression of Eddy Diffusivity across Jets in the Southern Ocean |
| title_full | Suppression of Eddy Diffusivity across Jets in the Southern Ocean |
| title_fullStr | Suppression of Eddy Diffusivity across Jets in the Southern Ocean |
| title_full_unstemmed | Suppression of Eddy Diffusivity across Jets in the Southern Ocean |
| title_short | Suppression of Eddy Diffusivity across Jets in the Southern Ocean |
| title_sort | suppression of eddy diffusivity across jets in the southern ocean |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/62572 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3736-1956 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ferrariraffaele suppressionofeddydiffusivityacrossjetsinthesouthernocean AT nikurashinmaximanatolevich suppressionofeddydiffusivityacrossjetsinthesouthernocean |