An abyssal recipe

Fine- and microstructure observations indicate bottom-intensified turbulent dissipation above rough bathymetry associated with internal wave breaking. Simple analytic representations for the depth profile of turbulent dissipation are proposed here under the assumption that the near bottom wavefield is dominated by a baroclinic tide. This scheme is intended for use in numerical models and thus captures only the gross features of detailed solutions to the energy balance of the internal wavefield. The possible sensitivity of the magnitude and vertical variability of the dissipation rate profile to various environmental parameters is discussed. An expression for the diapycnal buoyancy flux is presented that explicitly treats the difference between the height of an isopycnal above the mean bottom and the actual bottom. This returns a diapycnal velocity estimate that is consistent with both tracer observations of downwelling and a basin scale mass budget that requires upwelling.     

An abyssal recipe

Fine- and microstructure observations indicate bottom-intensified turbulent dissipation above rough bathymetry associated with internal wave breaking. Simple analytic representations for the depth profile of turbulent dissipation are proposed here under the assumption that the near bottom wavefield is dominated by a baroclinic tide. This scheme is intended for use in numerical models and thus captures only the gross features of detailed solutions to the energy balance of the internal wavefield. The possible sensitivity of the magnitude and vertical variability of the dissipation rate profile to various environmental parameters is discussed. An expression for the diapycnal buoyancy flux is presented that explicitly treats the difference between the height of an isopycnal above the mean bottom and the actual bottom. This returns a diapycnal velocity estimate that is consistent with both tracer observations of downwelling and a basin scale mass budget that requires upwelling.     

Tidally driven mixing in a numerical model of the ocean general circulation

Astronomical data reveals that approximately 3.5 terawatts (TW) of tidal energy is dissipated in the ocean. Tidal models and satellite altimetry suggest that 1 TW of this energy is converted from the barotropic to internal tides in the deep ocean, predominantly around regions of rough topography such as mid-ocean ridges. A global tidal model is used to compute turbulent energy levels associated with the dissipation of internal tides, and the diapycnal mixing supported by this energy flux is computed using a simple parameterization.The mixing parameterization has been incorporated into a coarse resolution numerical model of the global ocean. This parameterization offers an energetically consistent and practical means of improving the representation of ocean mixing processes in climate models. Novel features of this implementation are that the model explicitly accounts for the tidal energy source for mixing, and that the mixing evolves both spatially and temporally with the model state. At equilibrium, the globally averaged diffusivity profile ranges from 0.3 cm² s⁻¹ at thermocline depths to 7.7 cm² s⁻¹ in the abyss with a depth average of 0.9 cm² s⁻¹, in close agreement with inferences from global balances. Water properties are strongly influenced by the combination of weak mixing in the main thermocline and enhanced mixing in the deep ocean. Climatological comparisons show that the parameterized mixing scheme results in a substantial reduction of temperature/salinity bias relative to model solutions with either a uniform vertical diffusivity of 0.9 cm² s⁻¹ or a horizontally uniform bottom-intensified arctangent mixing profile. This suggests that spatially varying bottom intensified mixing is an essential component of the balances required for the maintenance of the ocean’s abyssal stratification.     

On diapycnal mixing induced by internal tidal waves in the Arctic Ocean

In order to reproduce the diapycnal mixing induced by internal tidal waves (ITWs) in the Arctic Ocean, we use a modified version of the three-dimensional finite-element hydrothermodynamic model QUODDY-4. We found that the average (over the tidal cycle) and integral (by depth) baroclinic tidal energy dissipation rate in individual areas of the Siberian continental shelf and in the straits between the Canadian Arctic archipelago are much higher than in the open ocean and its values on ridges and troughs are qualitatively similar to one another. Moreover, in the area of open-ocean ridges, the baroclinic tidal energy dissipation rate increases as it approaches the bottom, but only in the bottom boundary layer; on the Mid-Atlantic and Hawaii ridges, such an increase is observed within a few hundreds of meters away from the bottom. The average (in area and depth of the open ocean) coefficient of diapycnal mixing defined by the baroclinic tidal energy dissipation rate is higher than the coefficient of molecular kinematic viscosity and only a few times lower than the canonical value of the coefficient of vertical turbulent viscosity, which is used in models of global oceanic circulation. Coupled with the reasoning on the localization of baroclinic tidal energy dissipation, this fact leads to the conclusion that disregarding the contribution that ITW-induced diapycnal mixing makes to the ocean-climate formation is hardly justified.     

Impact of parameterized lee wave drag on the energy budget of an eddying global ocean model

The impact of parameterized topographic internal lee wave drag on the input and output terms in the total mechanical energy budget of a hybrid coordinate high-resolution global ocean general circulation model forced by winds and air-sea buoyancy fluxes is examined here. Wave drag, which parameterizes the generation of internal lee waves arising from geostrophic flow impinging upon rough topography, is included in the prognostic model, ensuring that abyssal currents and stratification in the model are affected by the wave drag.An inline mechanical (kinetic plus gravitational potential) energy budget including four dissipative terms (parameterized topographic internal lee wave drag, quadratic bottom boundary layer drag, vertical eddy viscosity, and horizontal eddy viscosity) demonstrates that wave drag dissipates less energy in the model than a diagnostic (offline) estimate would suggest, due to reductions in both the abyssal currents and stratification. The equator experiences the largest reduction in energy dissipation associated with wave drag in inline versus offline estimates. Quadratic bottom drag is the energy sink most affected globally by the presence of wave drag in the model; other energy sinks are substantially affected locally, but not in their global integrals. It is suggested that wave drag cannot be mimicked by artificially increasing the quadratic bottom drag because the energy dissipation rates associated with bottom drag are not spatially correlated with those associated with wave drag where the latter are small. Additionally, in contrast to bottom drag, wave drag is a non-local energy sink.All four aforementioned dissipative terms contribute substantially to the total energy dissipation rate of about one terawatt. The partial time derivative of potential energy (non-zero since the isopycnal depths have a long adjustment time), the surface advective fluxes of potential energy, the rate of change of potential energy due to diffusive mass fluxes, and the conversion between internal energy and potential energy also play a non-negligible role in the total mechanical energy budget. Reasons for the <10% total mechanical energy budget imbalance are discussed.     

The rôle of the complete Coriolis force in cross-equatorial flow of abyssal ocean currents

Ocean currents flowing close to or across the equator are strongly constrained by the change in sign of f, the locally vertical component of the Earth’s rotation vector, across the equator. We investigate these currents using a shallow water model that includes both the locally vertical and locally horizontal components of the Earth’s rotation vector, thus accounting for the complete Coriolis force. We therefore avoid making the so-called “traditional approximation” that retains only the part of the Coriolis force associated with the locally vertical component of the rotation vector. Including the complete Coriolis force contributes an additional term to the fluid’s potential vorticity, which may partially balance the change in sign of f as fluid crosses the equator over suitably shaped bathymetry.We focus on the Antarctic Bottom Water, which crosses the equator northwards in the western Atlantic ocean where the local bathymetry forms an almost-zonal channel. We show that this bathymetry facilitates the current’s equatorial crossing via the action of the “non-traditional” component of the Coriolis force. We illustrate this process using both analytical and numerical solutions for flow of an abyssal current over idealised equatorial topography. We also consider the one-dimensional geostrophic adjustment of a body of fluid across the equator, and show that the “non-traditional” contribution to the fluid’s angular momentum permits a larger cross-equatorial transport. These results underline the importance of including the complete Coriolis force in studies of the equatorial ocean, particularly in the weakly-stratified abyssal ocean where the non-traditional component is most pronounced.     

Bathymetric influence on mean currents in two high-resolution near-global ocean models

The question of whether mean flow generation by eddies interacting with sloping bathymetry significantly influences World Ocean circulation is approached by examining output from two near-global circulation models, OFES and the LANL/NPS POP model, having ∼1/10° lateral resolution. In each of these vigorously eddying models, the mean currents over sloping bathymetry tend preferentially to align with the direction of topographic Rossby wave propagation, in accordance with theories of eddy-topographic interaction. This tendency, which is particularly strong near the ocean bottom and at abyssal depths, prevails both globally and within a variety of circulation regimes including the subpolar and subtropical gyres and the extra-equatorial tropics. By contrast, two coarser (∼1–2°), non-eddying models exhibit flow alignments throughout much of the abyssal ocean that are oppositely directed. This result suggests that eddies play an essential role in determining the direction of mean circulation over slopes, and that non-eddying models could benefit from a parameterization of this effect.     

Numerical simulation of tidally induced eddies in the Bungo Channel: A possible role for sporadic Kuroshio-water intrusion (kyucho)

It is well known that the sudden intrusion of Kuroshio warm water into the Bungo Channel (kyucho) is regulated by spring–neap tidal forcing. In order to clarify the physical background behind this regulation, numerical experiments are carried out using a high-resolution non-hydrostatic three-dimensional model. We first reproduce the strong mixing region off the east coast of the Bungo Channel resulting from tidal flow interaction with complicated land configurations during spring tides; behind islands and headlands, small-scale eddies satisfying an approximate cyclostrophic balance are generated. As a result, averaged over the whole model domain, the tidal-mean energy dissipation rate reaches ≈1.6?×?10^?6?W?kg^?1. The model predicted energy dissipation rates at the location and times of direct microstructure measurements in the Bungo Channel are comparable to the observed values. We next examine whether or not strong tidal mixing thus reproduced can inhibit the northward intrusion of Kuroshio warm water in the Bungo Channel. It is shown that the Kuroshio warm water can (or cannot) pass through the tidal mixing regions off the east coast of the Bungo Channel during periods of weakened (or enhanced) tidal mixing at neap (or spring) tides. This indicates that taking into account the realistic spring–neap modulation of tidal mixing intensity is indispensable to further increase the ability of the existing forecast system for kyucho in the Bungo Channel.     

夏季长江口及其邻近海域湍流特征分析

利用2019年7月在长江口科学考察实验研究夏季航段(NORC2019-03-02)中获得的MSS90L湍流剖面仪的直接观测数据,本文计算并分析了该断面的湍动能耗散率ε和垂向湍扩散系数K_Z的分布情况。湍动能耗散率的大小为1.72×10?10～2.95×10?5 W/kg;垂向湍扩散系数的大小为3.24×10?7～4.55×10?2 m2/s。湍动能耗散率和垂向湍扩散系数的分布相似,均为上层最强,底层次之,中层最弱。上层由于风应力的作用,使得湍动能耗散率和垂向湍扩散系数较大;温跃层处层化较强,抑制了湍动能的耗散和垂向上的湍混合。盐度锋面的次级环流会促使低盐水团脱离,锋面引起的垂向环流会加强海洋的湍混合。低盐水团与外界的能量交换较少,湍动能耗散率较弱。长江口海区存在明显的上升流和下降流,它们是由锋面的次级环流产生的;上升流和下降流的存在促进湍动能的耗散与湍混合。     

Effects of Stokes production on summer ocean shelf dynamics

A two-dimensional numerical model,which is configured on the basis of Princeton ocean model（POM）,is used to study the effect of Stokes production（SP） of the turbulent kinetic energy on a density profile and Ekman transport in an idealized shelf region in summer.The energy input from SP is parameterized and included into the Mellor-Yamada turbulence closure submodel.Results reveal that the intensity of wind-driven upwelling fronts near the sea surface is weakened by the SP-associated turbulent kinetic energy input.The vertical eddy viscosity coefficient in the surface boundary layer is enhanced greatly owing to the impact of SP,which decreases the alongshore velocity and changes the distribution of upwelling.In addition,the SP-induced mixing easily suppresses the strong stratification and significantly increases the depth of the upper mixed layer（ML） under strong winds.     

Verification studies for a z-coordinate primitive-equation model: Tidal conversion at a mid-ocean ridge

We document the accuracy and convergence of solutions for a z-coordinate primitive-equation model of internal tide generation and propagation. The model, which is based on MOM3 numerics, is linearized around a state of rest to facilitate comparison with analytic estimates of baroclinic generation at finite-amplitude topography in a channel forced by barotropic tidal flow at its boundaries. Unlike the analytical model, the numerical model includes mixing of both buoyancy and momentum, and several definitions of “baroclinic conversion” are possible. These are clarified by writing out the energetics of the linearized equations in terms of barotropic kinetic energy, baroclinic kinetic energy, and available potential energy. The tidal conversion computed from the model, defined as the rate of conversion of barotropic kinetic energy into available potential energy, agrees well with analytical predictions. A comparison of different treatments of bottom topography (full-cells, partial-cells, and ghost-cells) indicates that the partial-cell treatment is the most accurate in this application. Convergence studies of flow over a smooth supercritical ridge show that the dissipation along tidal characteristics is, apparently, an integrable singularity. When the ocean bottom is not smooth, the accuracy and convergence of the model depend on the power spectrum of the topography. A numerical experiment suggests that the power spectrum of the resolved topography must roll off faster than k⁻² to obtain convergent results from a linear numerical model of this type.     

Numerical study on the characteristics of flow field and wave propagation near submerged breakwater on slope

In this study,characteristics of flow field and wave propagation near submerged breakwater on a sloping bed are investigated with numerical model. The governing equations of the vertical twodimensional model are Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes equations. The Reynolds stress terms are closed by a nonlinear k ε turbulence transportation model. The free surface is traced through the PILC-VOF method. The proposed numerical model is verified with experimental results. The numerical result shows that the wave profile may become more asymmetrical when wave propa-gates over breakwater. When wave crest propagates over breakwater,the anticlockwise vortex may generate. On the contrary,when wave hollow propagates over breakwater,the clockwise vortex may generate. Meanwhile,the influenced zone of vortex created by wave crest is larger than that created by wave hollow. All the maximum values of the turbulent kinetic energy,turbulent dissi-pation and eddy viscosity occur on the top of breakwater. Both the turbulent dissipation and eddy viscosity increase as the turbulent kinetic energy increases. Wave energy may rapidly decrease near the breakwater because turbulent dissipation increases and energy in lower harmonics is transferred into higher harmonics.     

Observational and numerical modeling methods for quantifying coastal ocean turbulence and mixing

In this review paper, state-of-the-art observational and numerical modeling methods for small scale turbulence and mixing with applications to coastal oceans are presented in one context. Unresolved dynamics and remaining problems of field observations and numerical simulations are reviewed on the basis of the approach that modern process-oriented studies should be based on both observations and models. First of all, the basic dynamics of surface and bottom boundary layers as well as intermediate stratified regimes including the interaction of turbulence and internal waves are briefly discussed. Then, an overview is given on just established or recently emerging mechanical, acoustic and optical observational techniques. Microstructure shear probes although developed already in the 1970s have only recently become reliable commercial products. Specifically under surface waves turbulence measurements are difficult due to the necessary decomposition of waves and turbulence. The methods to apply Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCPs) for estimations of Reynolds stresses, turbulence kinetic energy and dissipation rates are under further development. Finally, applications of well-established turbulence resolving particle image velocimetry (PIV) to the dynamics of the bottom boundary layer are presented. As counterpart to the field methods the state-of-the-art in numerical modeling in coastal seas is presented. This includes the application of the Large Eddy Simulation (LES) method to shallow water Langmuir Circulation (LC) and to stratified flow over a topographic obstacle. Furthermore, statistical turbulence closure methods as well as empirical turbulence parameterizations and their applicability to coastal ocean turbulence and mixing are discussed. Specific problems related to the combined wave-current bottom boundary layer are discussed. Finally, two coastal modeling sensitivity studies are presented as applications, a two-dimensional study of upwelling and downwelling and a three-dimensional study for a marginal sea scenario (Baltic Sea). It is concluded that the discussed methods need further refinements specifically to account for the complex dynamics associated with the presence of surface and internal waves.     

多波束声纳计量测试系统设计

为满足多波束声纳量值溯源与传递需求,设计多波束声纳关键参数的计量测试系统。基于大比尺原型深水港池和多维运行控制机构,通过水下横向测距代替垂向测深的方式对多波束声纳进行了测深准确度与有效条带宽度的计量测试。阐述了测试系统的主要组成和测试方法,给出了本测试系统测深结果的扩展不确定度。参考标准值与示值(或标称值)比对结果表明,被检多波束声纳测深示值误差小于0.2%,条带宽度误差小于7%。为规范水下声纳设备技术指标校准,指导多波束声纳计量标准建设提供参考。     

海浪破碎对海洋上混合层中湍能量收支的影响

海浪破碎产生一向下输入的湍动能通量,在近海表处形成一湍流生成明显增加的次层,加强了海洋上混合层中的湍流垂向混合。为了研究海浪破碎对混合层中湍能量收支的影响,文中分析了海浪破碎对海洋上混合层中湍流生成的影响机制,采用垂向一维湍封闭混合模式,通过改变湍动能方程的上边界条件,引入了海浪破碎产生的湍动能通量,并分别对不同风速下海浪破碎的影响进行了数值研究,分析了混合层中湍能量收支的变化。当考虑海浪破碎影响时,近海表次层中的垂直扩散项和耗散项都有显著的增加,该次层中被耗散的湍动能占整个混合层中耗散的总的湍能量的92.0%,比无海浪破碎影响的结果增加了近1倍;由于平均流场切变减小,混合层中的湍流剪切生成减小了3.5%,形成一种存在于湍动能的耗散和垂直扩散之间的局部平衡关系。在该次层以下,局部平衡关系与壁层定律的结论一致,即湍动能的剪切生成与耗散相平衡。研究结果表明,海浪破碎在海表产生的湍动能通量影响了海洋上混合层中的各项湍能量收支间的局部平衡关系。     

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.     

A parabolic equation for wave propagation over porous structures

A parabolic wave model was developed to simulate wave transformation over porous structures in the surf zone including wave-breaking and energy dissipation. This model is verified through experimental data for waves passing over a submerged permeable structure with porosities. The numerical results have shown good agreement with the results of laboratory experiments. The model is also applied to the real case of waves propagating over a porous submerged breakwater on a complicated bathymetry.     

Distribution of phytoplankton in the East China Sea in the winter of 1993

Phytoplankton distribution and its relationship to water masses were investigated in the East China Sea from February 15 to March 10, 1993. Diatoms, dinoflagellates and coccolithophorids were examined by the Utermöhl method. Two distinct phytoplankton assemblages were identified: a shelf and oceanic assemblage. The shelf community was characterized by a high abundance of diatoms, particularly, a benthic diatomParalia sulcata, and the oceanic community by numerical dominance of coccolithophorids and occurrence of surface warm-water species of diatoms. A boundary of both communities was located at the shelf edge that coincided with the shelf side of a Kuroshio front.P. sulcata was the most dominant in the inner shelf area throughout the water column. The occurrence of this species near the surface was considered to be a good indicator of the enhanced vertical mixing driven by winter monsoon. The species survives under extremely low light intensity near the bottom during the stratified periods in summer. During the winter time when light condition at the bottom becomes most unfavorable, resuspension and upward traveling of the species due to enhanced vertical mixing seem to be advantageous to acquire suitable light condition. Because of its predominance, possible importance ofP. sulcata is suggested in material cycling on the shelf, particularly near the bottom.     

Deep-water circulation in the North Pacific deduced from Si-O diagrams

A simple dissolved silica (Si) and dissolved oxygen (O) diagram method was applied to study the deep-water circulation in the North Pacific and the following results and conclusion have been obtained. In the abyssal water flowing northward in the western Pacific Si increases with a constant ratio of Si to decreasing O(Si/O=–0.30). The water is designated as the main sequence. In the eastern Pacific the Si-O diagram is characteristic of the location and reflects the degrees of mixing with older waters and of alteration due to decomposition of biogenic material. The Bay of Alaska is found to be a great source of silica in the North Pacific and its bottom water spreads out to the central North Pacific north of 40°N, called here the abyssal front. The younger abyssal water in the Aleutian Trench flowing to the eastern North Pacific north of 40°N comes through the north end of the Kuril-Kamchatka Trench instead of the gap in the Emperor Seamounts at about 46°N. The deep water is almost completely homogenized by active isopycnal mixing and advection when the deep water reaches its upper boundary by upwelling in the western North Pacific including the Bering Sea. Thus the high productivity in the Bering Sea is principally caused neither by the direct supply of abyssal water rich in nutrients nor by the extremely active vertical mixing reaching depths greater than 500 m, but it may be caused simply by the shallower upper boundary of the deep water mass in the Bering Sea, from which nutrients are easily transported to the surface.     

Numerical study of tidal dynamics in the South China Sea with adjoint method

We adopt a parameterized internal tide dissipation term to the two-dimensional (2-D) shallow water equations, and develop the corresponding adjoint model to investigate tidal dynamics in the South China Sea (SCS). The harmonic constants derived from 63 tidal gauge stations and 24 TOPEX/Poseidon (T/P) satellite altimeter crossover points are assimilated into the adjoint model to minimize the deviations of the simulated results and observations by optimizing the bottom friction coefficient and the internal tide dissipation coefficient. Tidal constituents M₂, S₂, K₁ and O₁ are simulated simultaneously. The numerical results (assimilating only tidal gauge data) agree well with T/P data showing that the model results are reliable. The co-tidal charts of M₂, S₂, K₁ and O₁ are obtained, which reflect the characteristics of tides in the SCS. The tidal energy flux is analyzed based on numerical results. The strongest tidal energy flux appears in the Luzon Strait (LS) for both semi-diurnal and diurnal tidal constituents. The analysis of tidal energy dissipation indicates that the bottom friction dissipation occurs mainly in shallow water area, meanwhile the internal tide dissipation is mainly concentrated in the LS and the deep basin of the SCS. The tidal energetics in the LS is examined showing that the tidal energy input closely balances the tidal energy dissipation.