Vertical mixing at intermediate depths in the Arctic boundary current
- Lenn, Y.D.
- Wiles, P.J.
- Torres-Valdes, S.
- Abrahamsen, E.P.
- Rippeth, T.P.
- Simpson, J.H.
- Bacon, S.
- Laxon, S.W.
- Polyakov, I.
- Ivanov, V.
- Kirillov, S.
DOIAbstract
Microstructure and hydrographic observations, during September 2007 in the boundary current on the East Siberian continental slope, document upper ocean stratification and along-stream water mass changes. A thin warm surface layer overrides a shallow halocline characterized by a ~40-m thick temperature minimum layer beginning at ~30 m depth. Below the halocline, well-defined thermohaline diffusive staircases extended downwards to warm Atlantic Water intrusions found at 200-800 m depth. Observed turbulent eddy kinetic energy dissipations are extremely low (epsilon <10^-6 W m^-3), such that double diffusive convection dominates the vertical mixing in the upper-ocean. The diffusive convection heat fluxes F^dc_H ~1 W m^-2, are an order of magni...
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