Turbulence and finestructure in a deep ocean channel with sill overflow on the mid-Atlantic ridge


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sandra.tippenhauer [ at ] awi.de

Abstract

Diapycnal mixing in the deep ocean is known to be much stronger in the vicinity of rough topography of mid-ocean ridges than above abyssal plains. In this study a horizontally profiling microstructure probe attached to an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) is used to infer the spatial distribution of the dissipation rate of turbulent kinetic energy (ε) in the central valley of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first successful realization of a horizontal, deep-ocean microstructure survey. More than 22h of horizontal, near-bottom microstructure data from the Lucky Strike segment (37°N) are presented. The study focuses on a channel with unidirectional sill overflow. Density was found to decrease along the channel following the mean northward flow of 3 to 8cm/s. The magnitude of the rate of turbulent kinetic energy dissipation was distributed asymmetrically relative to the position of the sill. Elevated dissipation rates were present in a segment 1-4km downstream (north) of the sill with peak values of 1×10-7W/kg. Large flow speeds and elevated density finestructure were observed within this segment. Lowered hydrographic measurements indicated unstable stratification in the same region. The data indicate that hydraulic control was established at least temporarily. Inside the channel at wavelengths between 1m and 250m the slopes of AUV-inferred horizontal temperature gradient spectra were found to be consistent with turbulence in the inertial-convective subrange. Integrated temperature gradient variance in this wavelength interval was consistent with an ε2/3 dependence. The results illustrate that deep-reaching AUVs are a useful tool to study deep ocean turbulence over complex terrain where free-falling and lowered turbulence measurements are inefficient and time-consuming.



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Published
Eprint ID
38473
DOI https://www.doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr.2015.01.001

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Tippenhauer, S. , Dengler, M. , Fischer, T. and Kanzow, T. (2015): Turbulence and finestructure in a deep ocean channel with sill overflow on the mid-Atlantic ridge , Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers, 99 , pp. 10-22 . doi: https://www.doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr.2015.01.001


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