Seasonal characteristics of the surface mixed layer in the Australasian region: implications for primary production regimes and biogeography

2006 ◽  
Vol 57 (6) ◽  
pp. 569 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott A. Condie ◽  
Jeff R. Dunn
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Layer ◽  
Mixed Layer Depth ◽  
Biological Properties ◽  
Supplementary Information ◽  
Nutrient Concentrations ◽  
Surface Mixed Layer ◽  
Surface Ocean ◽  
Seasonal Characteristics ◽  
Long Term Trends ◽  
Australasian Region

The seasonal cycle of physical, chemical, and biological properties of the surface ocean mixed layer in the Australasian region (0 to 50°S, 90 to 180°E) were described on the basis of a range of data products, some of which are described for the first time. They include seasonal fields of temperature, salinity, mixed layer depth, nitrate, phosphate and silicate from the CSIRO Atlas of Regional Seas (CARS), as well as estimates of chlorophyll from SeaWiFS ocean colour data, and a range of supplementary information taken from published studies. Seasonal chlorophyll cycles were interpreted within the context of variability in nutrient concentrations and mixed layer depths. This interpretation included a biogeographical description, which was compared with related regional and global products. Such descriptions provide a baseline for future investigations of interannual variability and long-term trends in mixed layer properties, as well as contributing to the development of spatial frameworks for management of the region’s resources.

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.

scholarly journals Observations of the Transition Layer

2009 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 780-797 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. M. Shaun Johnston ◽  
Daniel L. Rudnick
Keyword(s):  
Layer Thickness ◽  
Mixed Layer ◽  
Potential Vorticity ◽  
Transition Layer ◽  
Mixed Layer Depth ◽  
Density Ratio ◽  
Horizontal Resolution ◽  
Surface Mixed Layer ◽  
Layer Depth ◽  
Vertical Displacements

Abstract The transition layer is the poorly understood interface between the stratified, weakly turbulent interior and the strongly turbulent surface mixed layer. The transition layer displays elevated thermohaline variance compared to the interior and maxima in current shear, vertical stratification, and potential vorticity. A database of 91 916 km or 25 426 vertical profiles of temperature and salinity from SeaSoar, a towed vehicle, is used to define the transition layer thickness. Acoustic Doppler current measurements are also used, when available. Statistics of the transition layer thickness are compared for 232 straight SeaSoar sections, which range in length from 65 to 1129 km with typical horizontal resolution of ∼4 km and vertical resolution of 8 m. Transition layer thicknesses are calculated in three groups from 1) vertical displacements of the mixed layer base and of interior isopycnals into the mixed layer; 2) the depths below the mixed layer depth of peaks in shear, stratification, and potential vorticity and their widths; and 3) the depths below or above the mixed layer depth of extrema in thermohaline variance, density ratio, and isopycnal slope. From each SeaSoar section, the authors compile either a single value or a median value for each of the above measures. Each definition yields a median transition layer thickness from 8 to 24 m below the mixed layer depth. The only exception is the median depth of the maximum isopycnal slope, which is 37 m above the mixed layer base, but its mode is 15–25 m above the mixed layer base. Although the depths of the stratification, shear, and potential vorticity peaks below the mixed layer are not correlated with the mixed layer depth, the widths of the shear and potential vorticity peaks are. Transition layer thicknesses from displacements and the full width at half maximum of the shear and potential vorticity peak give transition layer thicknesses from 0.11× to 0.22× the mean depth of the mixed layer. From individual profiles, the depth of the shear peak below the stratification peak has a median value of 6 m, which shows that momentum fluxes penetrate farther than buoyancy fluxes. A typical horizontal scale of 5–10 km for the transition layer comes from the product of the isopycnal slope and a transition layer thickness suggesting the importance of submesoscale processes in forming the transition layer. Two possible parameterizations for transition layer thickness are 1) a constant of 11–24 m below the mixed layer depth as found for the shear, stratification, potential vorticity, and thermohaline variance maxima and the density ratio extrema; and 2) a linear function of mixed layer depth as found for isopycnal displacements and the widths of the shear and potential vorticity peaks.

Spiciness Anomalies of Subantarctic Mode Water in the South Indian Ocean

2021 ◽  
Vol 34 (10) ◽  
pp. 3927-3953
Author(s):  
Motoki Nagura
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Mixed Layer ◽  
Mixed Layer Depth ◽  
Surface Mixed Layer ◽  
The South ◽  
South Indian Ocean ◽  
Mode Water ◽  
Horizontal Advection ◽  
South Indian ◽  
Subantarctic Mode Water

AbstractThis study investigates spreading and generation of spiciness anomalies of the Subantarctic Mode Water (SAMW) located on 26.6 to 26.8 σθ in the south Indian Ocean, using in situ hydrographic observations, satellite measurements, reanalysis datasets, and numerical model output. The amplitude of spiciness anomalies is about 0.03 psu or 0.13°C and tends to be large along the streamline of the subtropical gyre, whose upstream end is the outcrop region south of Australia. The speed of spreading is comparable to that of the mean current, and it takes about a decade for a spiciness anomaly in the outcrop region to spread into the interior up to Madagascar. In the outcrop region, interannual variability in mixed layer temperature and salinity tends to be density compensating, which indicates that Eulerian temperature or salinity changes account for the generation of isopycnal spiciness anomalies. It is known that wintertime temperature and salinity in the surface mixed layer determine the temperature and salinity relationship of a subducted water mass. Considering this, the mixed layer heat budget in the outcrop region is estimated based on the concept of effective mixed layer depth, the result of which shows the primary contribution from horizontal advection. The contributions from Ekman and geostrophic currents are comparable. Ekman flow advection is caused by zonal wind stress anomalies and the resulting meridional Ekman current anomalies, as is pointed out by a previous study. Geostrophic velocity is decomposed into large-scale and mesoscale variability, both of which significantly contribute to horizontal advection.

Statistical features of the Oceanographic area off south-western Australia, obtained from Bathythermograph data

1986 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 421 ◽  
Author(s):  
LJ Hamilton
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Layer ◽  
Mixed Layer Depth ◽  
Sea Surface ◽  
Temperature Fields ◽  
Surface Mixed Layer ◽  
Statistical Features ◽  
Layer Depth ◽  
Leeuwin Current ◽  
South West

A statistical analysis has been made of 26 years of bathythermograph (BT) data to 1980 for the south-west Australian area bounded by 30-35�s. and 110-115�E., a region influenced by the Leeuwin Current. The data indicate that a surface mixed layer exists all year round, with average depth 55 m and standard deviation 37 m. All but 2% of BT casts show a mixed-layer depth (MLD) less than 150 m. MLD are deepest in mid-year, particularly from July to September. Sea surface temperatures (SST) are significantly related to temperature values down to 200 m depth, especially in mid-year, for both eastern and western parts of the area separated by 113�E. Correlations of MLD with SST are significant only in the western part, and then only from January to March, and April to June. Long-term horizontally averaged temperature fields are broadly related through the water column from the surface to 200 m. All results indicate that, especially in mid-year, SST fields are related to subsurface temperature fields, which may be representative of flow structure. Seasonal differences exist between the eastern and western areas, caused by the Leeuwin Current.

scholarly journals Scaling Surface Mixing/Mixed Layer Depth under Stabilizing Buoyancy Flux

2015 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 247-258 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yutaka Yoshikawa
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Layer ◽  
Mixed Layer Depth ◽  
Mixing Layer ◽  
Buoyancy Flux ◽  
Earth’S Rotation ◽  
Surface Mixed Layer ◽  
Threshold Method ◽  
Layer Depth ◽  
Earth's Rotation ◽  
Surface Buoyancy

AbstractThis study concerns the combined effects of Earth’s rotation and stabilizing surface buoyancy flux upon the wind-induced turbulent mixing in the surface layer. Two different length scales, the Garwood scale and Zilitinkevich scale, have been proposed for the stabilized mixing layer depth under Earth’s rotation. Here, this study analyzes observed mixed layer depth plus surface momentum and buoyancy fluxes obtained from Argo floats and satellites, finding that the Zilitinkevich scale is more suited for observed mixed layer depths than the Garwood scale. Large-eddy simulations (LESs) reproduce this observed feature, except under a weak stabilizing flux where the mixed layer depth could not be identified with the buoyancy threshold method (because of insufficient buoyancy difference across the mixed layer base). LESs, however, show that the mixed layer depth if defined with buoyancy ratio relative to its surface value follows the Zilitinkevich scale even under such a weak stabilizing flux. LESs also show that the mixing layer depth is in good agreement with the Zilitinkevich scale. These findings will contribute to better understanding of the response of stabilized mixing/mixed layer depth to surface forcings and hence better estimation/prediction of several processes related to stabilized mixing/mixed layer depth such as air–sea interaction, subduction of surface mixed layer water, and spring blooming of phytoplankton biomass.

scholarly journals Numerical simulations of the competition between wind-driven mixing and surface heating in triggering spring phytoplankton blooms

2015 ◽  
Vol 72 (6) ◽  
pp. 1926-1941 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rica Mae Enriquez ◽  
John R. Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Heat Flux ◽  
Critical Heat Flux ◽  
Mixed Layer ◽  
Turbulent Mixing ◽  
Phytoplankton Bloom ◽  
Mixed Layer Depth ◽  
Phytoplankton Growth ◽  
Surface Heating ◽  
Surface Mixed Layer ◽  
Critical Depth

Abstract About 60 years ago, Sverdrup formalized the critical depth hypothesis to explain the timing of the spring phytoplankton bloom in terms of the depth of the surface mixed layer. In recent years, a number of refinements and alternatives to the critical depth hypothesis have been proposed, including the critical turbulence hypothesis which states that a bloom can occur when turbulent mixing is sufficiently weak, irrespective of the mixed layer depth. Here, we examine the relative influence of wind-driven mixing and net surface heating on phytoplankton growth. Of particular interest is whether wind-driven mixing can delay the spring bloom after winter convection gives way to net surface warming. We address these questions using high-resolution large-eddy simulations (LES) coupled with a simple phytoplankton model. We also describe an analytical phytoplankton model with a formulation for the turbulent mixing based on the LES results. For a constant, prescribed surface heat flux, net phytoplankton growth is seen when the windstress is smaller than a critical value. Similarly, for a constant windstress, a critical heat flux separates cases with growing and decaying phytoplankton populations. Using the LES results, we characterize the critical windstress and critical heat flux in terms of other physical and biological parameters and propose a simple expression for each based on the analysis of the analytical model. Phytoplankton growth begins when the mixing depth shoals above the critical depth, consistent with the critical depth hypothesis. Our results provide a framework to interpret blooms in other conditions where both the depth and the intensity of turbulent mixing might be crucial factors in influencing phytoplankton growth.

On the scaling of stress-driven entrainment experiments

1979 ◽  
Vol 90 (3) ◽  
pp. 509-529 ◽  
Author(s):  
James F. Price
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Layer ◽  
Mixed Layer Depth ◽  
Side Wall ◽  
Momentum Conservation ◽  
Conservation Equation ◽  
Entrainment Rate ◽  
Surface Mixed Layer ◽  
Mean Velocity ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Conservation Of Momentum

The entrainment experiments of Kato & Phillips (1969) and Kantha, Phillips & Azad (1977) (hereafter KP and KPA) are analysed to demonstrate a more general and effective scaling of the entrainment observations. The preferred scaling is \[ V^{-1} dh/dt = E(R_v), \] where h is the mixed-layer depth, V is the mean velocity of the mixed layer, Rv = B/V2 and B is the total mixed-layer buoyancy. This scaling effectively collapses entrainment data taken at various h/L, where L is the tank width, and in cases in which the interior is density stratified (KP) or homogeneous (KPA). The entrainment law E(Rv) is computed from the KP and KPA observations using the conservation equations for mean momentum and buoyancy. A side-wall drag term is included in the momentum conservation equation. In the range 0·5 < Rv < 1·0, which includes nearly all of the KP, KPA data, E ≃ 5 × 10−4R−4v. This is very similar to the entrainment law followed by a surface half-jet (Ellison & Turner 1959) and by the wind-driven ocean surface mixed layer (Price, Mooers & Van Leer 1978).The analysis shows that, when forcing is steady, Rv is quasi-steady and, provided that side-wall drag is not large, Rv ≃ 0·6 over a wide range of RT = B/U2*, where U* is the friction velocity of the imposed stress. In the absence of side-wall drag (vanishing h/L) the conservation of momentum then leads to U−1*dh/dt = n(0·6)½R−½T, where n = ½ or 1 if the interior is linearly stratified or homogeneous. The KP, KPA data show this dependence throughout the range 17 < RT < 160 where the effect of side-wall drag is negligible or can be removed by a linear extrapolation. This result, together with the form and magnitude of the observed side-wall effect, suggests that mean momentum conservation is a key constraint upon the entrainment rate in the KP, KPA experiments.

Effect of climate warming on the mixed layer depth in lakes

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Shatwell ◽  
Georgiy Kirillin
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Layer ◽  
Climate Warming ◽  
Climate Models ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Mixed Layer Depth ◽  
Global Radiation ◽  
Global Climate Models ◽  
Surface Mixed Layer ◽  
Layer Depth ◽  
Modelling Studies

&lt;p&gt;The surface mixed layer in lakes is where phytoplankton grow and where most of the primary production occurs. Knowledge of the thickness of the mixed layer is essential to estimate for instance primary productivity and to interpret remote sensing measurements, because it determines the mean light supply and indicates how homogeneous the water column is. Modelling studies, primarily in the ocean, have concluded that the mixed layer will shoal as a result of climate warming, but the empirical evidence does not support this. Here we seek to determine how climate change affects the mixed layer thickness and mean underwater irradiance in lakes. We use an ensemble modelling approach to simulate mixed layer depth in 3 warming scenarios (RCP2.6, 6.0, 8.5) in about 50 lakes across the globe using the hydrodynamic model Flake forced by four downscaled global climate models. Results indicate that warming has little direct effect on the mixed layer depth. Mean underwater light in the mixed layer was nevertheless projected to increase as a result of the global radiation increases in the global climate models.&lt;/p&gt;

scholarly journals Acoustic mapping of mixed layer depth

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Stranne ◽  
Larry Mayer ◽  
Martin Jakobsson ◽  
Elizabeth Weidner ◽  
Kevin Jerram ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Layer ◽  
Mixed Layer Depth ◽  
Chemical Components ◽  
Surface Mixed Layer ◽  
Central Arctic Ocean ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Direct Observations ◽  
Spatial Coverage ◽  
Major Factors ◽  
Acoustic Mapping

Abstract. The ocean surface mixed layer is a nearly universal feature of the world oceans. The depth of the mixed layer (MLD) influences the exchange of heat and gases between the atmosphere and the ocean and constitutes one of the major factors controlling ocean primary production as it affects the vertical distribution of biological and chemical components in near-surface waters. Direct observations of the MLD are traditionally made by means of conductivity, temperature and depth (CTD) casts. However, CTD instrument deployment limits the observation of temporal and spatial variability of the MLD. Here, we present an alternative method where acoustic mapping of the MLD is done remotely by means of commercially available ship-mounted echosounders. The method is shown to be highly accurate when the MLD is well defined and biological scattering does not dominate the acoustic returns. These prerequisites are often met in the open ocean and it is shown that the method is successful in 95 % of data collected in the central Arctic Ocean. The primary advantages of acoustically mapping the MLD over CTD measurements are: (1) considerably higher temporal and horizontal resolutions and (2) potentially larger spatial coverage.

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