Large-scale mass transports, water mass formation, and diffusivities estimated from World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) hydrographic data

2003 ◽  
Vol 108 (C7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandre Ganachaud
Keyword(s):  
Ocean Circulation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Water Mass ◽  
World Ocean ◽  
Hydrographic Data ◽  
Water Mass Formation ◽  
World Ocean Circulation Experiment ◽  
Mass Formation

scholarly journals Woce Radiocarbon IV: Pacific Ocean Results; P10, P13N, P14C, P18, P19 & S4P

Radiocarbon ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 239-392 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert M Key ◽  
Paul D Quay ◽  
Peter Schlosser ◽  
A P McNichol ◽  
KF von Reden ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Ocean ◽  
Ocean Circulation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
World Ocean ◽  
Mass Spectrometry Analysis ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Spectrometry Analysis ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
World Ocean Circulation Experiment ◽  
The Pacific Ocean

The World Ocean Circulation Experiment, carried out between 1990 and 1997, provided the most comprehensive oceanic survey of radiocarbon to date. Approximately 10,000 samples were collected in the Pacific Ocean by U.S. investigators for both conventional large volume p counting and small volume accelerator mass spectrometry analysis techniques. Results from six cruises are presented. The data quality is as good or better than previous large-scale surveys. The 14C distribution for the entire WOCE Pacific data set is graphically described using mean vertical profiles and sections, and property-property plots.

scholarly journals Mediterranean Sea large-scale low-frequency ocean variability and water mass formation rates from 1987 to 2007: A retrospective analysis

2015 ◽  
Vol 132 ◽  
pp. 318-332 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadia Pinardi ◽  
Marco Zavatarelli ◽  
Mario Adani ◽  
Giovanni Coppini ◽  
Claudia Fratianni ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Retrospective Analysis ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Water Mass ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Ocean Variability ◽  
Water Mass Formation ◽  
Mass Formation

scholarly journals Can We Infer Diapycnal Mixing Rates from the World Ocean Temperature–Salinity Distribution?

2016 ◽  
Vol 46 (12) ◽  
pp. 3751-3775 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olivier Arzel ◽  
Alain Colin de Verdière
Keyword(s):  
General Circulation ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Water Mass ◽  
World Ocean ◽  
Eddy Diffusivity ◽  
Regional Variability ◽  
Diapycnal Mixing ◽  
Inverse Models ◽  
The World ◽  
The Difference

AbstractThe turbulent diapycnal mixing in the ocean is currently obtained from microstructure and finestructure measurements, dye experiments, and inverse models. This study presents a new method that infers the diapycnal mixing from low-resolution numerical calculations of the World Ocean whose temperatures and salinities are restored to the climatology. At the difference of robust general circulation ocean models, diapycnal diffusion is not prescribed but inferred. At steady state the buoyancy equation shows an equilibrium between the large-scale diapycnal advection and the restoring terms that take the place of the divergence of eddy buoyancy fluxes. The geography of the diapycnal flow reveals a strong regional variability of water mass transformations. Positive values of the diapycnal flow indicate an erosion of a deep-water mass and negative values indicate a creation. When the diapycnal flow is upward, a diffusion law can be fitted in the vertical and the diapycnal eddy diffusivity is obtained throughout the water column. The basin averages of diapycnal diffusivities are small in the first 1500 m [O(10−5) m2 s−1] and increase downward with bottom values of about 2.5 × 10−4 m2 s−1 in all ocean basins, with the exception of the Southern Ocean (50°–30°S), where they reach 12 × 10−4 m2 s−1. This study confirms the small diffusivity in the thermocline and the robustness of the higher canonical Munk’s value in the abyssal ocean. It indicates that the upward dianeutral transport in the Atlantic mostly takes place in the abyss and the upper ocean, supporting the quasi-adiabatic character of the middepth overturning.

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