Seismic imaging of a large horizontal vortex at abyssal depths beneath the Sub-Antarctic Front

Nature Geoscience

Volumn 5, Issue 8, 2012, Pages 542-546

  Sheen, K L ^a,b   White, N J ^a   Caulfield, C P ^c   Hobbs, R W ^d  

^a UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE   (United Kingdom)

^b UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON   (United Kingdom)

^c UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE   (United Kingdom)

^d DURHAM UNIVERSITY   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ABYSSAL ZONE; ACOUSTIC IMAGERY; FRONTAL FEATURE; GLOBAL OCEAN; OVERTURN; PHYSICAL OCEANOGRAPHY; SEISMICITY; THERMOHALINE CIRCULATION; VORTEX; WATER MASS;

ANTARCTICA; ATLANTIC OCEAN; ATLANTIC OCEAN (SOUTH); SOUTHERN OCEAN;

EID: 84864544980     PISSN: 17520894     EISSN: 17520908     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1038/ngeo1502     Document Type: Review

References (30)

1. Marshall, J. & Speer, K. Closure of the meridional overturning circulation through Southern Ocean upwelling. Nature Geosci. 5, 171-180 (2012).
2. Jullion, L., Heywood, K. J., Naveira Garabato, A. C. & Stevens, D. P. Circulation and water mass modification in the Brazil+Malvinas confluence. J. Phys. Oceanogr. 40, 845-864 (2010).
3. Ruddick, B., Song, H., Dong, C. & Pinheiro, L. Water column seismic images as maps of temperature gradient. Oceanography 22, 192-205 (2009).
4. Orsi, A. H., Whitworth, T. III, Worth, D. & Nowlin, W. D. Jr On the meridional extent and fronts of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. Deep-Sea. Res. I 42, 641-673 (1995).
5. Naveira Garabato, A. C., Polzin, K. L., King, B. A., Heywood, K. J. & Visbeck, M. Widespread intense turbulent mixing in the Southern Ocean. Science 303, 210-213 (2004).
6. Piola, A. R. & Georgi, D. Circumpolar properties of Antarctic Intermediate Waters and Subantarctic Mode Water. Deep Sea Res. 29, 687-711 (1982).
7. Peterson, R. G. & Whitworth, T. III The Subantarctic and Polar Fronts in relation to deep water masses through the Southwestern Atlantic. J. Geophys. Res. 94, 10817-10838 (1989).
8. Arhan, M., Heywood, K. J. & King, B. A. The deep waters from the Southern Ocean at the entry to the Argentine Basin. Deep-Sea Res. II 46, 475-499 (1999).
9. Klaeschen, D., Hobbs, R. W., Krahmann, G., Papenberg, C. & Vsemirnova, E. Estimating movement of reflectors in the water column using seismic oceanography. Geophys. Res. Lett. 36, L00D03 (2009).
10. Sheen, K. L., White, N. J., Caulfield, C. P. & Hobbs, R. W. Estimating geostrophic shear from seismic images of oceanic structure. J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol. 28, 1149-1154 (2011).
11. Pinheiro, L.M. et al. Detailed 2-D imaging of the Mediterranean outflow and meddies off W Iberia from multichannel seismic data. J. Marine. Syst. 79, 89-100 (2010).
12. Krahmann, G., Brandt, P., Klaeschen, D. & Reston, T. Mid-depth internal wave energy off the Iberian Peninsula estimated from seismic reflection data. Geophys. Res. Lett. 113, C12016 (2008).
13. Sheen, K. L., White, N. J. & Hobbs, R. W. Estimating mixing rates from seismic images of oceanic structure. Geophys. Res. Lett. 36, L00D04 (2009).
14. Bower, A. S., Rossby, H. T. & Lillibridge, J. L. The Gulf Stream+barrier of blender? J. Phys. Oceanogr. 15, 24-32 (1985).
15. Sundermeyer, M. A., Ledwell, J. R., Oakey, N. S. & Greenan, B. J. W. Stirring by small-scale vortices caused by patchy mixing. J. Phys. Oceanogr. 35, 1245-1262 (2005).
16. Smith, K. S. & Ferrari, R. The production and dissipation of compensated thermohaline variance by mesoscale stirring. J. Phys. Oceanogr. 39, 2477-2501 (2009).
17. Woods, J. D., Onken, R. & Fischer, J. Thermohaline intrusions created isopycnally at oceanic fronts are inclined to isopycnals. Nature 322, 446-449 (1986).
18. MacVean, M. K. & Woods, J. D. Redistribution of scalars during upper ocean frontogenesis: A numerical model. Q. J. R. Meteorol. Soc. 106, 293-311 (1980).
19. Klein, P., Treguier, A-M. & Hua, B. L. Three-dimensional stirring of thermohaline fronts. J. Marine Res. 56, 589-612 (1998).
20. Arhan, M., Carton, X., Piola, A. & Zenk, W. Deep lenses of circumpolar water in the Argentine Basin. J. Geophys. Res. 107, 3007 (2002).
21. Riley, J. J. & Lindborg, E. Stratified turbulence: A possible interpretation of some geophysical turbulence measurements. J. Atmos. Sci. 65, 2416-2424 (2008).
22. Lindborg, E. The energy cascade in a strongly stratified fluid. J. Fluid Mech. 550, 207-242 (2006).
23. Brethouwer, G., Billant, P., Lindborg, E. & Chomaz, J-M. Scaling analysis and simulation of strongly stratified turbulent flows. J. Fluid Mech. 585, 343-368 (2007).
24. Molemaker, M. J & McWilliams, J. C. Local balance and cross-scale flux of available potential energy. J. Fluid Mech. 645, 295-314 (2010).
25. Kunze, E., Firing, E., Hummon, J. M., Chereskin, T. K. & Thurnherr, A. M. Global abyssal mixing inferred from lowered ADCP shear and CTD strain profiles. J. Phys. Oceanogr. 36, 1553-1576 (2006).
26. Wells, M., Cenedese, C. & Caulfield, C. P. The relationship between flux coefficient and entrainment ratio in density currents. J. Phys. Oceanogr. 40, 2713-2727 (2010).
27. Thorpe, S. A. Turbulence and mixing in a Scottish loch. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. 286A, 125-181 (1977).
28. Dillon, T. M. Vertical overturns: A comparison of Thorpe and Ozmidov length scales. J. Geophys. Res. 87, 9601-9613 (1982).
29. Alford, M. H. Sustained, full-water-column observations of internal waves and mixing near mendicino escarpment. J. Phys. Oceanogr. 40, 2643-2660 (2010).
30. Klymak, J. M. & Moum, J. N. Oceanic isopycnal slope spectra. Part II: Turbulence. J. Phys. Oceanogr. 37, 1232-1245 (2007).