Southern Ocean transformation in a coupled model with and without eddy mass fluxes

A coupled air–sea general circulation model is used to simulate the global circulation. Different parameterizations of lateral mixing in the ocean by eddies, horizontal, isopycnal, and isopycnal plus eddy advective flux, are compared from the perspective of water mass transformation in the Southern Ocean. The different mixing physics imply different buoyancy equilibria in the surface mixed layer, different transformations, and therefore a variety of meridional overturning streamfunctions. The coupled‐model approach avoids strong artificial water mass transformation associated with relaxation to prescribed mixed layer conditions. Instead, transformation results from the more physical non‐local, nonlinear interdependence of sea‐surface temperature, air–sea fluxes, and circulation in the model's atmosphere and ocean. The development of a stronger mid‐depth circulation cell and associated upwelling when eddy fluxes are present, is examined. The strength of overturning is diagnosed in density coordinates using the transformation framework.     

Tidal Mixing in the Kuril Straits and Its Impact on Ventilation in the North Pacific Ocean

A numerical study using a 3-D nonhydrostatic model has been applied to baroclinic processes generated by the K ₁ tidal flow in and around the Kuril Straits. The result shows that large-amplitude unsteady lee waves are generated and cause intense diapycnal mixing all along the Kuril Island Chain to levels of a maximum diapycnal diffusivity exceeding 10³ cm²s⁻¹. Significant water transformation by the vigorous mixing in shallow regions produces the distinct density and potential vorticity (PV) fronts along the Island Chain. The pinched-off eddies that arise and move away from the fronts have the ability to transport a large amount of mixed water (∼14 Sv) to the offshore regions, roughly half being directed to the North Pacific. These features are consistent with recent satellite imagery and in-situ observations, suggesting that diapycnal mixing within the vicinity of the Kuril Islands has a greater impact than was previously supposed on the Okhotsk Sea and the North Pacific. To examine this influence of tidal processes at the Kurils on circulations in the neighboring two basins, another numerical experiment was conducted using an ocean general circulation model with inclusion of tidal mixing along the islands, which gives a better representation of the Okhotsk Sea Mode Water than in the case without the tidal mixing. This is mainly attributed to the added effect of a significant upward salt flux into the surface layer due to tidal mixing in the Kuril Straits, which is subsequently transported to the interior region of the Okhotsk Sea. With a saline flux into the surface layer, cooling in winter in the northern part of the Okhotsk Sea can produce heavier water and thus enhance subduction, which is capable of reproducing a realistic Okhotsk Sea Mode Water. The associated low PV flux from the Kuril Straits to the open North Pacific excites the 2nd baroclinic-mode Kelvin and Rossby waves in addition to the 1st mode. Interestingly, the meridional overturning in the North Pacific is strengthened as a result of the dynamical adjustment caused by these waves, leading to a more realistic reproduction of the North Pacific Intermediate Water (NPIW) than in the case without tidal mixing. Accordingly, the joint effect of tidally-induced transport and transformation dominating in the Kuril Straits and subsequent eddy-transport is considered to play an important role in the ventilation of both the Okhotsk Sea and the North Pacific Ocean. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Abyssal recipes II: energetics of tidal and wind mixing

Without deep mixing, the ocean would turn, within a few thousand years, into a stagnant pool of cold salty water with equilibrium maintained locally by near-surface mixing and with very weak convectively driven surface-intensified circulation. (This result follows from Sandström’s theorem for a fluid heated and cooled at the surface.) In this context we revisit the 1966 “Abyssal Recipes”, which called for a diapycnal diffusivity of 10^-4m²/s (1 cgs) to maintain the abyssal stratification against global upwelling associated with 25 Sverdrups of deep water formation. Subsequent microstructure measurements gave a pelagic diffusivity (away from topography) of 10^-5 m²/s — a low value confirmed by dye release experiments.A new solution (without restriction to constant coefficients) leads to approximately the same values of global upwelling and diffusivity, but we reinterpret the computed diffusivity as a surrogate for a small number of concentrated sources of buoyancy flux (regions of intense mixing) from which the water masses (but not the turbulence) are exported into the ocean interior. Using the Levitus climatology we find that 2.1 TW (terawatts) are required to maintain the global abyssal density distribution against 30 Sverdrups of deep water formation.The winds and tides are the only possible source of mechanical energy to drive the interior mixing. Tidal dissipation is known from astronomy to equal 3.7 TW (2.50±0.05 TW from M₂ alone), but nearly all of this has traditionally been allocated to dissipation in the turbulent bottom boundary layers of marginal seas. However, two recent TOPEX/POSEIDON altimetric estimates combined with dynamical models suggest that 0.6–0.9 TW may be available for abyssal mixing. A recent estimate of wind-driving suggests 1 TW of additional mixing power. All values are very uncertain.A surprising conclusion is that the equator-to-pole heat flux of 2000 TW associated with the meridional overturning circulation would not exist without the comparatively minute mechanical mixing sources. Coupled with the findings that mixing occurs at a few dominant sites, there is a host of questions concerning the maintenance of the present climate state, but also that of paleoclimates and their relation to detailed continental configurations, the history of the Earth–Moon system, and a possible great sensitivity to details of the wind system.     

Adiabatic density surface,neutral density surface,potential density surface,and mixing path*

In this paper,adiabatic density surface,neutral density surface and potential density surface are compared.The adiabatic density surface is defined as the surface on which a water parcel can move adiabatically,without changing its potential temperature and salinity.For a water parcel taken at a given station and pressure level,the corresponding adiabatic density surface can be determined through simple calculations.This family of surface is neutrally buoyant in the world ocean,and different from other surfaces that are not truly neutrally buoyant.In order to explore mixing path in the ocean,a mixing ratio m is introduced,which is defined as the portion of potential temperature and salinity of a water parcel that has exchanged with the environment during a segment of migration in the ocean.Two extreme situations of mixing path in the ocean are m=0(no mixing),which is represented by the adiabatic density curve,and m=1,where the original information is completely lost through mixing.The latter is represented by the neutral density curve.The reality lies in between,namely,0m1.In the turbulent ocean,there are potentially infinite mixing paths,some of which may be identified by using different tracers(or their combinations)and different mixing criteria.Searching for mixing paths in the real ocean presents a great challenge for further research.     

北部湾冷水团的季节变化及其机制的数值研究

A wave-tide-circulation coupled model based on the Princeton Ocean Model is established to explore the seasonal variation of the cold water mass in the Beibu Gulf and its mechanisms. The results show that the cold water mass starts forming in March, reaches the maximum strength during June and July, and fades away since October. Strong mixing in winter transports the cold water from sea surface to bottom. The cold water mass remains in the bottom layer as the thermocline strengthens during spring, except for the shallow water where the themocline is broken by strong tidal mixing, which gradually separate the cold water mass from its surrounding warm water. Further analysis on the ocean current and stream function confirms that the cold water mass in the Beibu Gulf is locally developed, with an anticlockwise circulation caused by a strong temperature gradient. Sensitivity experiments reveal that the cold water mass is controlled by the sea surface heat flux, while the terrain and tidal mixing also play important roles.     

Parameterization of the depth of the upper quasi-homogeneous layer based on measurements in the North Atlantic (Section along 53° N)

The dependence of the variation in the depth of the upper mixed layer (MLD) on the governing parameters (the momentum flux, the buoyancy fluxes at the ocean surface, and the density gradient in the pycnocline) is considered. It is shown that, in the spring storm season, wind mixing dominates over convective mixing. In this case, the MLD is linearly correlated with the Ekman scale calculated from the friction velocity observed approximately 12 h before the measurement of the MLD.     

The effects on water mass formation of surface mixed layer timedependence and entrainment fluxes

An air-sea buoyancy flux out of the ocean between the surface outcroppings of different isopycnals must be balanced by a convergence of advective and diffusive fluxes of buoyancy across those isopycnals (Walin, 1982; Tziperman, 1986; Garrett et al., 1995). For steady conditions, the diapycnal diffusive flux due to vertical mixing in the surface mixed layer is very small, so that the advective buoyancy flux dominates (Speer, 1993; Garrett et al., 1995). The associated advective buoyancy flux can then be used to estimate the volume flux of water out of the base of the surface mixed layer. The resulting thermodynamic algorithm provides a valuable estimate of water mass formation in the ocean.In contrast, for the time-dependent real ocean with horizontal and vertical gradients of the horizontal buoyancy gradient, diurnal and seasonal mixed layer deepening and entrainment in the presence of a buoyancy jump at the base of the mixed layer contributes to the annual volume flux out of the base of the deepest (wintertime) mixed layer. The mismatch between the predictions of the ideal algorithm and measured rates of water mass formation (Speer, 1997) may thus be partly due to mixed layer processes rather than diapycnal mixing in the thermocline.     

夏季越南东北外海暖水的时空变化特征及其机理研究

Due to orographic blockage, a weak wind wake occurs in summer off northeast Vietnam in the South China Sea. Under the wind wake, warm water is observed from both high-resolution satellite data and hydrographic observations. The wake of warm water forms in June, continues to mature in July and August, starts to decay in September, and disappears in October. The warm water wake also shows robust diurnal variation – it intensifies during the day and weakens in the night. Warm water wakes can be generated through wind-induced mixing and thermal(latent heat flux) processes. In this paper, a mixed layer model is used to evaluate the relative importance of the two processes on seasonal and diurnal timescales, respectively. The results demonstrate that thermal processes make a greater contribution to the wake than wind-induced mixing processes on a seasonal timescale, while the warm water wake is dominated by wind-induced mixing processes on a diurnal timescale.     

Intercalibration of benthic flux chambers I. Accuracy of flux measurements and influence of chamber hydrodynamics

The hydrodynamic properties and the capability to measure sediment-water solute fluxes, at assumed steady state conditions, were compared for three radically different benthic chamber designs: the “Microcosm”, the “Mississippi” and the “Göteborg” chambers. The hydrodynamic properties were characterized by mounting a PVC bottom in each chamber and measuring mixing time, diffusive boundary layer thickness (DBL thickness) shear velocity (u∗), and total pressure created by the water mixing. The Microcosm had the most even distribution of DBL thickness and u∗, but the highest differential pressure at high water mixing rates. The Mississippi chamber had low differential pressures at high u∗. The Göteborg chamber was in between the two others regarding these properties. DBL thickness and u∗ were found to correlate according to the following empirical formula: DBL=76.18(u∗)−0.933. Multiple flux incubations with replicates of each of the chamber types were carried out on homogenized, macrofauna-free sediments in four tanks. The degree of homogeneity was determined by calculating solute fluxes (of oxygen, silicate, phosphate and ammonium) from porewater profiles and by sampling for porosity, organic carbon and meiofauna. All these results, except meiofauna, indicated that there were no significant horizontal variations within the sediment in any of the parallel incubation experiments. The statistical evaluations also suggested that the occasional variations in meiofauna abundance did not have any influence on the measured solute fluxes. Forty-three microelectrode profiles of oxygen in the DBL and porewater were evaluated with four different procedures to calculate diffusive fluxes. The procedure presented by Berg, Risgaard-Petersen and Rysgaard, 1989 [Limnol. Oceanogr. 43, 1500] was found to be superior because of its ability to fit measured profiles accurately, and because it takes into consideration vertical zonation with different oxygen consumption rates in the sediment. During the flux incubations, the mixing in the chambers was replicated ranging from slow mixing to just noticeable sediment resuspension. In the “hydrodynamic characterizations” these mixing rates corresponded to average DBL thickness from 120 to 550 μm, to u∗ from 0.12 to 0.68 cm/s, and to differential pressures from 0-3 Pa. Although not directly transferable, since the incubations were done on a “real” sediment with a rougher surface while in the characterizations a PVC plate simulated the sediments surface, these data give ideas about the prevailing hydrodynamic condition in the chambers during the incubations. The variations in water mixing did not generate statistically significant differences between the chamber types for any of the measured fluxes of oxygen or nutrients. Consequently it can be concluded that, for these non-permeable sediments and so long as appropriate water mixing (within the ranges given above) is maintained, the type of stirring mechanism and chamber design used were not critical for the magnitude of the measured fluxes. The average measured oxygen flux was 11.2 ± 2.7 (from 40 incubations), while the diffusive flux calculated (from 43 profiles using the Berg et al., 1989 [Limnol. Oceanogr. 43, 1500] procedure) was 11.1 ± 3.0 mmol m⁻² day⁻¹. This strongly suggests that accurate oxygen flux measurements were obtained with the three types of benthic chambers used and that the oxygen uptake is diffusive.     

Numerical issues for coupling biological models with isopycnal mixing schemes

In regions of sloping isopycnals, isopycnal mixing acting in conjunction with biological cycling can produce patterns in the nutrient field which have negative values of tracer in light water and unrealistically large values of tracer in dense water. Under certain circumstances, these patterns can start to grow unstably. This paper discusses why such behavior occurs. Using a simple four-box model, it demonstrates that the instability appears when the isopycnal slopes exceed the grid aspect ratio (Δz/Δx). In contrast to other well known instabilities of the CFL type, this instability does not depend on the time step or time-stepping scheme. Instead it arises from a fundamental incompatibility between two requirements for isopycnal mixing schemes, namely that they should produce no net flux of passive tracer across an isopycnal and everywhere reduce tracer extrema. In order to guarantee no net flux of tracer across an isopycnal, some upgradient fluxes across certain parts of an isopycnal are required to balance downgradient fluxes across other parts of the isopycnal. However, these upgradient fluxes can cause local maxima in the nutrient field to become self-reinforcing. Although this is less of a problem in larger domains, there is still a strong tendency for isopycnal mixing to overconcentrate tracer in the dense water. The introduction of eddy-induced advection is shown to be capable of counteracting the upgradient fluxes of nutrient which cause problems, stabilizing the solution. The issue is not simply a numerical curiosity. When used in a GCM, different parameterizations of eddy mixing result in noticeably different distributions of nutrient and large differences in biological production. While much of this is attributable to differences in convection and circulation, the numerical errors described here may also play an important role in runs with isopycnal mixing alone.     

悬浮泥沙在长江口铀非保守行为中的重要作用

利用高精度的电感耦合等离子体质谱仪对2014年1月长江口表层水中溶解铀浓度及其234U/238U比值、2013年3月长江口表层沉积物中各矿物组分的铀含量及其234U/238U比值进行了测定,研究了其空间分布特征和影响因素。结果表明:除了长江径流和海水之外,长江口还有其他的溶解铀来源。水体中过剩铀与悬浮颗粒物浓度呈现显著相关性（r2=0.96）。对长江口表层沉积物进行的序列提取实验进一步表明,水体中悬浮颗粒物或沉积物中可解吸态和碳酸钙结合态铀可以在河口区域释放进入水体,而铁锰氧化物和有机物结合铀比较稳定,不受河口区混合过程的影响。每千克颗粒物或沉积物能够释放约2 μmol颗粒态铀,使其转化为溶解态。然而,铁氢氧化物和细颗粒物的絮凝吸附作用也可使溶解铀同时从河口水体中清除。在低盐度区,铀的清除和添加过程速率相近,使溶解铀呈现暂时的"伪保守"现象:颗粒态释放的铀具有明显低的234U/238U比值,导致水体的234U/238U低于保守混合值。在中高盐度区域,溶解铀呈现明显的富集现象。但是由于水相和颗粒相中的铀交换,可释放颗粒态铀的234U/238U接近溶解铀的234U/238U比值,从而导致水体的234U/238U比值呈现出保守性。长江口颗粒物的铀释放通量为（3.48±0.41）×105 mol/a,约占输入的总颗粒态铀通量（1.80±0.17）×106 mol/a的19.3%。长江口输入东海的溶解铀总通量（河流溶解态铀与河口添加铀之和）为（2.68±0.13）×106 mol/a,约为世界河流入海铀通量的11.7%。     

Lunar fortnightly modulation of tidal mixing near Kashevarov Bank, Sea of Okhotsk, and its impacts on biota and sea ice

Here we examine the consequences of strong tidal mixing on spatial and temporal distributions of biota and sea ice above Kashevarov Bank, Sea of Okhotsk, using data from field surveys (hydrography, pressure gauge and current meter moorings, and bio-acoustic soundings) and remote sensing (NOAA AVHRR). Fortnightly variations in the amplitude of diurnal tidal currents, primarily resulting from the K₁–O₁ interaction, are shown to dominate water motion over the bank. These currents (with maximum velocities 2 m s⁻¹) create a sharp tidally-mixed front that separates well-mixed water above the bank from stratified water along its flanks. Such mixing draws water upward from the cold dichothermal layer (100–150 m) into the surface layer, and thus serves to ventilate the intermediate layers of the Sea of Okhotsk. In summer, fortnightly modulation of the tidal mixing creates temporal variations in water column stratification, a critical factor in the joint supply of nutrients and light required to sustain phytoplankton growth. As such, chlorophyll-a and oxygen values vary in response to the fortnightly cycle, and zooplankton likewise form dense aggregations within the tidally-mixed front in response to the phytoplankton production. It is further noted that the brood cycle of dominant zooplankton species on the bank matches the fortnightly modulation of the tidal currents. In winter, tidal mixing draws relatively warm water upward from mid-depth to maintain a polynya that cyclically opens and closes in response to fortnightly variation in vertical heat flux.     

Importance of eddy representation for modeling the intermediate salinity minimum in the North Pacific: Comparison between eddy-resolving and eddy-permitting models

In order to confirm the results of the authors’ previous work, which found that the existence of disturbances smaller than meso-scale eddies is important in large-scale mixing process between the Oyashio and Kuroshio waters in the intermediate layer, the results of an eddy-resolving model experiment are analyzed and compared with those of an eddy-permitting model. The intermediate salinity minimum given in the initial condition weakens as integration advances in the eddy-permitting model, while it recovers rapidly and is maintained thereafter in the eddy-resolving model, initialized from the unrealistic salinity distribution of the former. Filament-like fine structures in temperature and salinity develop actively in the latter, which are much smaller in horizontal width than meso-scale eddies, suggesting the importance of such disturbances in the large-scale mixing. The mixing ratio of the Oyashio water defined by the original Oyashio and Kuroshio waters shows that its value is generally higher in the intermediate lower sub-layer than in the intermediate upper sub-layer in the Mixed Water Region, and the salinity minimum exists between layers with low and high values of the mixing ratio with its strong vertical gradient. The eddy transports of the Oyashio and Kuroshio waters in an isopycnal layer are divided into four components, usual isopycnal mixing of temperature and salinity being dominant, followed by the component associated with the thickness flux. The southward eddy transport of the Oyashio water and the northward eddy transport of the Kuroshio water are not symmetric to each other because the thickness-flux-associated components are in the same direction (southward).     

南海北部和中部硅藻通量季节性变化及其对季风气候的响应

通过对南海北部和中部两套时间序列沉积物捕获器中的颗粒物样品进行硅藻分析,揭示了南海北部和中部硅藻通量的季节变化规律及其区域差异和各自对东亚季风气候的响应.研究表明在南海北部和中部海域,硅藻通量可以在一定程度上指示海洋初级生产力水平,其中南海北部硅藻通量明显低于中部,这可能与北部颗粒物样品采集期间发生的E1 Ni(n)o...     

Roles of horizontal processes in the formation of density stratification in Hiuchi-Nada

Roles of horizontal processes in the formation of the density stratification in Hiuchi-Nada are investigated by means of a two-dimensional numerical model. In Hiuchi-Nada, vertically mixed and stratified regions are formed due to the regional difference of the tidal currents, and a tidal front is formed between the two regions. The horizontal mixing across the tidal front suppresses the development of the stratification, which is developed too much in the absence of the horizontal mixing. The moderate, realistic stratification cannot be realized in the model without the horizontal mixing. Density currents are formed due to the density distribution associated with the mixed and stratified states. These currents contribute to the horizontal mixing through the shear effect. Horizontal heat transfer from the outside water generates the vertical circulation and causes the stratification. This effect dominantly appears at the early and late stages of the stratified season. The stratification is initiated before the beginning of the surface heating and persists beyond the end, due to the horizontal heat transfer.     

Characteristics of the surface mixed layer depths in the northern South China Sea in spring

The nature and characteristics of the mixed layer depth (MLD) remain uncertain in the northern South China Sea. Using in situ data, we examined the quality of different MLD definitions, investigated the spatial and diurnal variation in the MLD, and examined the mechanisms of mixed layer development during March 23–31, 2014. We made distinct calculations of the MLD; of which two are (a) the depths between two different temperatures (0.2, 0.6 °C) and (b) the depths between two density differences (0.125, 0.25 kg/m³); and the fifth calculation is a depth derived from the optimal linear fitness method. We found that the optimal linear fitness MLD was the best definition for our study region ,and that it deepened from the shelf to the slope. Twenty-four-hour diurnal variation in the MLDs and mixing layers was observed when the ship was moored. Mixing layers were characterized by turbulent dissipation rates. We found that the mixed layer underwent a ‘stable-decaying–developing’ process. During the stable period, the MLD was close to that of the mixing layer, but during the decay/development periods, the MLDs were larger/smaller than those of the mixing layers. We suggest that both velocity shear and buoyancy flux were important in mixed layer development. We quantitatively examined the mechanisms of mixing in the shelf region, with air–sea net heat flux determined to be the major factor, rather than wind speed or current velocity.     

The dynamics of a bathymetrically arrested estuarine front

The mixing and circulation associated with a bathymetrically arrested estuarine front was studied using hydrographic and current data. A quasisteady front, exhibiting strongly convergent surface flows, is formed along the steeply sloping inner margins of the flood tide delta during each semidiurnal tide cycle. This front separates the brackish ambient water within a deep estuarine basin from the incoming oceanic tidal water. The position of the front is dependent on the local water depth and the difference in density between the two water masses. Beneath the surface there is an inclined frontal interface where static stability is very low and vertical mixing intense. A vertically integrated horizontal momentum equation was derived for flow in the upper layer and an estimate made as to the value of the associated entrainment coefficient.     

水团相互作用与东海高密水环流的演变

本文利用水文和海流观测资料，从水团相互作用去研究东海高密水及其环流的演变。获得如下一些结果：东海高密水冬季形成于东海中部陆架混合水中，入春以后水团挤压，高密水显得更为突出，入秋后高密水变性，东海中部陆架混合水重新形成；东海高密水核心区可形成气旋环流，从冬到秋经历了一个弱—强—弱的演变过程。海流观测结果证实这个环流是存在的；在东海高密水南侧存在较明显的密度锋，从冬到秋它也经历了一个弱—强—弱的演变过程；水团分析发现，各种与主体分离的混合水从春到夏可在高密水核心周围组合成一个环，从而进一步印证了这个高密水环流的存在     

Particle flux across the mid-European continental margin

Results are presented from particle flux studies using sediment trap and current meter moorings along a transect at the European continental margin at 49°N within the EU-funded Ocean Margin Exchange (OMEX) project. Two moorings were placed, at the mid- and outer slope in water depths of 1500 and 3660 m, with traps at 600 and 1050 m and at 580, 1440 and 3220 m, respectively. Residual currents at the mid-slope follow the slope contour, whereas seasonal off-slope flow was registered at the outer slope. At 600 m on the slope fluxes are similar to those in the abyssal North Atlantic. The flux of all components (bulk dry weight, particulate organic and inorganic carbon, lithogenic matter and opal) increased with water depth. Highest fluxes were recorded at 1440 m at the outer slope, where off-slope residual currents mediate particle export. The injection of biogenic and lithogenic particles below the depth of winter mixing results in the export of particles from shallower waters. Calculated lateral fluxes of particulate organic carbon exceed the primary flux by over a factor of 2 at 1440 m on the outer slope. Estimated lateral fluxes of suspended particulate matter in the water column and intermediate nepheloid layers at the outer slope are potentially large compared to sinking fluxes measured by sediment traps. A comparison is made of particle flux at three continental margin sites and two sites in the adjacent open North Atlantic, from which it is seen that bulk and organic matter flux increases exponentially with proximity to the shelf break. The percentage contribution of particulate organic carbon to biogenic fluxes increases from a mean of 5.7% in the abyssal N. Atlantic to 13.9% at the continental margins.     

A model for Meddy formation

A particular feature of “Meddies” is that the water within them has stable gradients of salinity and temperature. In this paper a model for a dense turbulent plume falling in a stationary, linearly-stratified environment is described. The density of the plume is assumed to be a linear function of two components, while the ambient density gradient is due to a gradient in only one of these components (labelled component one). The ratio of the contributions to the source buoyancy flux of the two components within the plume is identified as the important parameter for this type of flow. After deriving the steady equations for the plume, a simplified model for the filling process which creates the Meddy is described, which shows how a layer of fluid may be formed with stable gradients in both components in the lower part of the intrusion. The intrusion is shown to be less stratified than the surrounding fluid, with relatively weak gradients in component one (identified with temperature in the Meddy) that vary from unstable at the top to stable at the bottom of the intrusion and a fairly constant (stable) gradient in the second component (salinity for a Meddy). If the stable gradients in a Meddy are due solely to the filling process then, during formation, the top of the Meddy must become cooler than the surrounding water at the same level. The observed stable temperature gradient in Meddies is likely to be due to mixing processes after their formation, whereas the stable salanity gradient is mainly due to the filling process during formation.