Contrasting dynamic characteristics of shear turbulence and Langmuir circulation in the surface mixed layer

2015 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guojing Li ◽  
Dongxiao Wang ◽  
Ju Chen ◽  
Jinglong Yao ◽  
Lili Zeng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Layer ◽  
Dynamic Characteristics ◽  
Surface Mixed Layer ◽  
Langmuir Circulation ◽  
Shear Turbulence

Role of Langmuir Circulation in the Deepening of the Ocean Surface Mixed Layer

Science ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 270 (5244) ◽  
pp. 1955-1957 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Li ◽  
K. Zahariev ◽  
C. Garrett
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Layer ◽  
Ocean Surface ◽  
Surface Mixed Layer ◽  
Langmuir Circulation ◽  
Ocean Surface Mixed Layer

scholarly journals Langmuir Circulation: An Agent for Vertical Restratification?

2012 ◽  
Vol 42 (11) ◽  
pp. 1945-1958 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ke Li ◽  
Zhexuan Zhang ◽  
Greg Chini ◽  
Glenn Flierl
Keyword(s):  
Surface Waves ◽  
Mixed Layer ◽  
Vertical Mixing ◽  
Surface Mixed Layer ◽  
Symmetric Mode ◽  
Instability Mode ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
Langmuir Circulation ◽  
The Stability ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Comparably little is known about the impact of down-front-propagating surface waves on the stability of submesoscale lateral fronts in the ocean surface mixed layer. In this investigation, the stability of lateral fronts in gradient–wind balance to two-dimensional (down-front invariant) disturbances is analyzed using the stratified, rotating Craik–Leibovich (CL) equations. Through the action of the CL vortex force, the surface waves fundamentally alter the superinertial, two-dimensional linear stability of these fronts, with the classical symmetric instability mode being replaced by a hybrid Langmuir circulation/symmetric mode. The hybrid mode is shown to exhibit much larger growth rates than the pure symmetric mode, to exist in a regime in which the vertical Richardson number is greater than 1, and to accomplish significant cross-isopycnal transport. Nonhydrostatic numerical simulations reveal that the nonlinear evolution of this hybrid instability mode can lead to rapid, that is, superinertial, vertical restratification of the mixed layer. Paradoxically, Langmuir circulation—generally viewed as a prominent vertical mixing mechanism in the upper ocean—may thus play a role in mixed layer restratification.

scholarly journals Characterization and Modulation of Langmuir Circulation in Chesapeake Bay

2015 ◽  
Vol 45 (10) ◽  
pp. 2621-2639 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malcolm E. Scully ◽  
Alexander W. Fisher ◽  
Steven E. Suttles ◽  
Lawrence P. Sanford ◽  
William C. Boicourt
Keyword(s):  
Chesapeake Bay ◽  
Mixed Layer ◽  
Vertical Velocity ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Surface Boundary ◽  
Surface Mixed Layer ◽  
Langmuir Circulation ◽  
Salinity Stratification ◽  
Velocity Skewness

AbstractMeasurements made as part of a large-scale experiment to examine wind-driven circulation and mixing in Chesapeake Bay demonstrate that circulations consistent with Langmuir circulation play an important role in surface boundary layer dynamics. Under conditions when the turbulent Langmuir number Lat is low (<0.5), the surface mixed layer is characterized by 1) elevated vertical turbulent kinetic energy; 2) decreased anisotropy; 3) negative vertical velocity skewness indicative of strong/narrow downwelling and weak/broad upwelling; and 4) strong negative correlations between low-frequency vertical velocity and the velocity in the direction of wave propagation. These characteristics appear to be primarily the result of the vortex force associated with the surface wave field, but convection driven by a destabilizing heat flux is observed and appears to contribute significantly to the observed negative vertical velocity skewness.Conditions that favor convection usually also have strong Langmuir forcing, and these two processes probably both contribute to the surface mixed layer turbulence. Conditions in which traditional stress-driven turbulence is important are limited in this dataset. Unlike other shallow coastal systems where full water column Langmuir circulation has been observed, the salinity stratification in Chesapeake Bay is nearly always strong enough to prevent full-depth circulation from developing.

Mixed Layer Models and Their Application to Water Quality Problems

1994 ◽  
Vol 29 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 221-232
Author(s):  
M.J. McCormick
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Mixed Layer ◽  
Thermal Structure ◽  
Mass Conservation ◽  
Eddy Diffusion ◽  
Rate Of Change ◽  
Surface Mixed Layer ◽  
Storm Events ◽  
Quality Model ◽  
Mixing Processes

Abstract Four one-dimensional models which have been used to characterize surface mixed layer (ML) processes and the thermal structure are described. Although most any model can be calibrated to mimic surface water temperatures, it does not imply that the corresponding mixing processes are well described. Eddy diffusion or "K" models can exhibit this problem. If a ML model is to be useful for water quality applications, then it must be able to resolve storm events and, therefore, be able to simulate the ML depth, h, and its time rate of change, dh/dt. A general water quality model is derived from mass conservation principles to demonstrate how ML models can be used in a physically meaningful way to address water quality issues.

scholarly journals Simulation of diurnal variability in vertical density structure using a coupled model

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Yadidya ◽  
A. D. Rao ◽  
Sachiko Mohanty
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Layer ◽  
3D Model ◽  
Coupled Model ◽  
Wave Model ◽  
Andaman Sea ◽  
Surface Mixed Layer ◽  
Diurnal Variability ◽  
Rama Buoy ◽  
Vertical Displacements ◽  
Primary Advantage

AbstractThe changes in the physical properties of the ocean on a diurnal scale primarily occur in the surface mixed layer and the pycnocline. Price–Weller–Pinkel model, which modifies the surface mixed layer, and the internal wave model based on Garrett–Munk spectra that calculates the vertical displacements due to internal waves are coupled to simulate the diurnal variability in temperature and salinity, and thereby density profiles. The coupled model is used to simulate the hourly variations in density at RAMA buoy (15° N, 90° E), in the central Bay of Bengal, and at BD12 (10.5° N, 94° E), in the Andaman Sea. The simulations are validated with the in-situ observations from December 2013 to November 2014. The primary advantage of this model is that it could simulate spatial variability as well. An integrated model is also tested and validated by using the output of the 3D model to initialize the coupled model during January, April, July, and October. The 3D model can be used to initialize the coupled model at any given location within the model domain to simulate the diurnal variability of density. The simulations showed promising results which could be further used in simulating the acoustic fields and propagation losses which are crucial for Navy operations.

scholarly journals Niche partitioning by photosynthetic plankton as a driver of CO2-fixation across the oligotrophic South Pacific Subtropical Ocean

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Duerschlag ◽  
Wiebke Mohr ◽  
Timothy G. Ferdelman ◽  
Julie LaRoche ◽  
Dhwani Desai ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Layer ◽  
Niche Partitioning ◽  
Euphotic Zone ◽  
South Pacific ◽  
Niche Differentiation ◽  
Surface Mixed Layer ◽  
The South ◽  
The Core ◽  
Photosynthetic Eukaryotes ◽  
Phytoplankton Communities

AbstractOligotrophic ocean gyre ecosystems may be expanding due to rising global temperatures [1–5]. Models predicting carbon flow through these changing ecosystems require accurate descriptions of phytoplankton communities and their metabolic activities [6]. We therefore measured distributions and activities of cyanobacteria and small photosynthetic eukaryotes throughout the euphotic zone on a zonal transect through the South Pacific Ocean, focusing on the ultraoligotrophic waters of the South Pacific Gyre (SPG). Bulk rates of CO2 fixation were low (0.1 µmol C l−1 d−1) but pervasive throughout both the surface mixed-layer (upper 150 m), as well as the deep chlorophyll a maximum of the core SPG. Chloroplast 16S rRNA metabarcoding, and single-cell 13CO2 uptake experiments demonstrated niche differentiation among the small eukaryotes and picocyanobacteria. Prochlorococcus abundances, activity, and growth were more closely associated with the rims of the gyre. Small, fast-growing, photosynthetic eukaryotes, likely related to the Pelagophyceae, characterized the deep chlorophyll a maximum. In contrast, a slower growing population of photosynthetic eukaryotes, likely comprised of Dictyochophyceae and Chrysophyceae, dominated the mixed layer that contributed 65–88% of the areal CO2 fixation within the core SPG. Small photosynthetic eukaryotes may thus play an underappreciated role in CO2 fixation in the surface mixed-layer waters of ultraoligotrophic ecosystems.

Parameterization of Mixed Layer Eddies. Part I: Theory and Diagnosis

2008 ◽  
Vol 38 (6) ◽  
pp. 1145-1165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Baylor Fox-Kemper ◽  
Raffaele Ferrari ◽  
Robert Hallberg
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Layer ◽  
Mixed Layer Depth ◽  
Baroclinic Instability ◽  
Finite Amplitude ◽  
Climate Impacts ◽  
Surface Mixed Layer ◽  
Rotation Rates ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Horizontal Density Gradient ◽  
Mixed Layers

Abstract Ageostrophic baroclinic instabilities develop within the surface mixed layer of the ocean at horizontal fronts and efficiently restratify the upper ocean. In this paper a parameterization for the restratification driven by finite-amplitude baroclinic instabilities of the mixed layer is proposed in terms of an overturning streamfunction that tilts isopycnals from the vertical to the horizontal. The streamfunction is proportional to the product of the horizontal density gradient, the mixed layer depth squared, and the inertial period. Hence restratification proceeds faster at strong fronts in deep mixed layers with a weak latitude dependence. In this paper the parameterization is theoretically motivated, confirmed to perform well for a wide range of mixed layer depths, rotation rates, and vertical and horizontal stratifications. It is shown to be superior to alternative extant parameterizations of baroclinic instability for the problem of mixed layer restratification. Two companion papers discuss the numerical implementation and the climate impacts of this parameterization.

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