scholarly journals Microstructure Mixing Observations and Finescale Parameterizations in the Beaufort Sea

2021 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-35
Author(s):  
Elizabeth C. Fine ◽  
Matthew H. Alford ◽  
Jennifer A. MacKinnon ◽  
John B. Mickett
Keyword(s):  
Water Mass ◽  
Beaufort Sea ◽  
Atlantic Water ◽  
High Variability ◽  
Heat Fluxes ◽  
Strain Measurements ◽  
Dissipation Rates ◽  
Wind Event ◽  
Microstructure Measurements ◽  
Free Falling

AbstractIn the Beaufort Sea in September of 2015, concurrent mooring and microstructure observations were used to assess dissipation rates in the vicinity of 72°35′N, 145°1′W. Microstructure measurements from a free-falling profiler survey showed very low [(10−10) W kg−1] turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rates ε. A finescale parameterization based on both shear and strain measurements was applied to estimate the ratio of shear to strain Rω and ε at the mooring location, and a strain-based parameterization was applied to the microstructure survey (which occurred approximately 100 km away from the mooring site) for direct comparison with microstructure results. The finescale parameterization worked well, with discrepancies ranging from a factor of 1–2.5 depending on depth. The largest discrepancies occurred at depths with high shear. Mean Rω was 17, and Rω showed high variability with values ranging from 3 to 50 over 8 days. Observed ε was slightly elevated (factor of 2–3 compared with a later survey of 11 profiles taken over 3 h) from 25 to 125 m following a wind event which occurred at the beginning of the mooring deployment, reaching a maximum of ε= 6 × 10−10 W kg−1 at 30-m depth. Velocity signals associated with near-inertial waves (NIWs) were observed at depths greater than 200 m, where the Atlantic Water mass represents a reservoir of oceanic heat. However, no evidence of elevated ε or heat fluxes was observed in association with NIWs at these depths in either the microstructure survey or the finescale parameterization estimates.

New Method for Estimating Double-Diffusive Dissipation Rates

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leo Middleton ◽  
Elizabeth Fine ◽  
Jennifer MacKinnon ◽  
Matthew Alford ◽  
John Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Heat Fluxes ◽  
New Method ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Double Diffusive Convection ◽  
Dissipation Rates ◽  
Diffusive Convection ◽  
Small Scales ◽  
Microstructure Measurements ◽  
Double Diffusive

<p>Understanding the transport of heat in the Arctic ocean will be vital for predicting the fate of sea-ice in the decades to come. Small-scale turbulence is an important driver of heat transport and one of the major forms of this turbulence is known as `double-diffusive convection'. Double diffusion refers to a variety of turbulent processes in which potential energy is released into kinetic energy, made possible in the ocean by the difference in molecular diffusivities between salinity and temperature.  The most direct measurements of ocean mixing require sampling velocity or temperature gradients on scales <1mm, so-called microstructure measurements. Here we present a new method for estimating the energy dissipated by double-diffusive convection using temperature and salinity measurements on larger scales (100s to 1000s of metres). The method estimates the up-gradient diapycnal buoyancy flux, which is hypothesised to balance the dissipation rate. To calculate the temperature and salinity gradients on small scales we apply a canonical scaling for compensated thermohaline variance (or `spice') and project the gradients down to small scales. We apply the method to a high-resolution survey of temperature and salinity through a subsurface Arctic eddy (Fine et al. 2018) and compare the results with simultaneous microstructure measurements. The new technique can reproduce up to 70% of the observed dissipation rates to within a factor of 3. This suggests the method could be used to estimate the dissipation and heat fluxes associated with double-diffusive convection in regions without microstructure measurements. Finally, we show the method maintains predictive skill when applied to a sub-sampling of the CTD data at lower resolutions.</p>

scholarly journals Pool Boiling Heat Transfer Coefficients in Mixtures of Water and Glycerin

Processes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 830
Author(s):  
Viktor Vajc ◽  
Radek Šulc ◽  
Martin Dostál
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Dynamic Method ◽  
Water Mass ◽  
Heat Fluxes ◽  
Static Method ◽  
Transfer Coefficients ◽  
Heat Transfer Coefficients ◽  
Mean Relative Error ◽  
Mixture Effects ◽  
Mass Fractions

Heat transfer coefficients were investigated for saturated nucleate pool boiling of binary mixtures of water and glycerin at atmospheric pressure in a wide range of concentrations and heat fluxes. Mixtures with water mass fractions from 100% to 40% were boiled on a horizontal flat copper surface at heat fluxes from about 25 up to 270kWm−2. Experiments were carried out by static and dynamic method of measurement. Results of the static method show that the impact of mixture effects on heat transfer coefficient cannot be neglected and ideal heat transfer coefficient has to be corrected for all investigated concentrations and heat fluxes. Experimental data are correlated with the empirical correlation α=0.59q0.714+0.130ωw with mean relative error of 6%. Taking mixture effects into account, data are also successfully correlated with the combination of Stephan and Abdelsalam (1980) and Schlünder (1982) correlations with mean relative error of about 15%. Recommended coefficients of Schlünder correlation C0=1 and βL=2×10−4ms−1 were found to be acceptable for all investigated mixtures. The dynamic method was developed for fast measurement of heat transfer coefficients at continuous change of composition of boiling mixture. The dynamic method was tested for water–glycerin mixtures with water mass fractions from 70% down to 35%. Results of the dynamic method were found to be comparable with the static method. For water–glycerin mixtures with higher water mass fractions, precise temperature measurements are needed.

scholarly journals Latest Miocene restriction of the Mediterranean Outflow Water: a perspective from the Gulf of Cádiz

2021 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhi Lin Ng ◽  
F. Javier Hernández-Molina ◽  
Débora Duarte ◽  
Francisco J. Sierro ◽  
Santiago Ledesma ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Exchange ◽  
Water Mass ◽  
Atlantic Water ◽  
Meridional Overturning Circulation ◽  
Gulf Of Cadiz ◽  
Mediterranean Outflow Water ◽  
Gulf Of Cádiz ◽  
Mediterranean Outflow ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Water Mass Exchange

AbstractThe Mediterranean-Atlantic water mass exchange provides the ideal setting for deciphering the role of gateway evolution in ocean circulation. However, the dynamics of Mediterranean Outflow Water (MOW) during the closure of the Late Miocene Mediterranean-Atlantic gateways are poorly understood. Here, we define the sedimentary evolution of Neogene basins from the Gulf of Cádiz to the West Iberian margin to investigate MOW circulation during the latest Miocene. Seismic interpretation highlights a middle to upper Messinian seismic unit of transparent facies, whose base predates the onset of the Messinian salinity crisis (MSC). Its facies and distribution imply a predominantly hemipelagic environment along the Atlantic margins, suggesting an absence or intermittence of MOW preceding evaporite precipitation in the Mediterranean, simultaneous to progressive gateway restriction. The removal of MOW from the Mediterranean-Atlantic water mass exchange reorganized the Atlantic water masses and is correlated to a severe weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) and a period of further cooling in the North Atlantic during the latest Miocene.

scholarly journals Microstructure measurements and estimates of entrainment in the Denmark Strait overflow plume

Ocean Science ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 1003-1014 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Paka ◽  
V. Zhurbas ◽  
B. Rudels ◽  
D. Quadfasel ◽  
A. Korzh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Interfacial Layer ◽  
Dissipation Rate ◽  
Gravity Current ◽  
Depth Interval ◽  
Buoyancy Frequency ◽  
Entrainment Rate ◽  
Ambient Water ◽  
Denmark Strait ◽  
Microstructure Measurements ◽  
Free Falling

Abstract. To examine processes controlling the entrainment of ambient water into the Denmark Strait overflow (DSO) plume/gravity current, measurements of turbulent dissipation rate were carried out by a quasi-free-falling (tethered) microstructure profiler (MSP). The MSP was specifically designed to collect data on dissipation-scale turbulence and fine thermohaline stratification in an ocean layer located as deep as 3500 m. The task was to perform microstructure measurements in the DSO plume in the lower 300 m depth interval including the bottom mixed layer and the interfacial layer below the non-turbulent ambient water. The MSP was attached to a Rosette water sampler rack equipped with a SeaBird CTDO and an RD Instruments lowered acoustic Doppler current profiler (LADCP). At a chosen depth, the MSP was remotely released from the rack to perform measurements in a quasi-free-falling mode. Using the measured vertical profiles of dissipation, the entrainment rate as well as the bottom and interfacial stresses in the DSO plume were estimated at a location 200 km downstream of the sill at depths up to 1771 m. Dissipation-derived estimates of entrainment were found to be much smaller than bulk estimates of entrainment calculated from the downstream change of the mean properties in the plume, suggesting the lateral stirring due to mesoscale eddies rather than diapycnal mixing as the main contributor to entrainment. Dissipation-derived bottom stress estimates are argued to be roughly one third the magnitude of those derived from log velocity profiles. In the interfacial layer, the Ozmidov scale calculated from turbulence dissipation rate and buoyancy frequency was found to be linearly proportional to the overturning scale extracted from conventional CTD data (the Thorpe scale), with a proportionality constant of 0.76, and a correlation coefficient of 0.77.

scholarly journals Eastern Arctic Ocean Diapycnal Heat Fluxes through Large Double-Diffusive Steps

2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 227-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Igor V. Polyakov ◽  
Laurie Padman ◽  
Y.-D. Lenn ◽  
Andrey Pnyushkov ◽  
Robert Rember ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Arctic Ocean ◽  
Dissipation Rate ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Density Ratio ◽  
Atlantic Water ◽  
Heat Fluxes ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Eurasian Basin ◽  
Average Flux ◽  
Double Diffusive

AbstractThe diffusive layering (DL) form of double-diffusive convection cools the Atlantic Water (AW) as it circulates around the Arctic Ocean. Large DL steps, with heights of homogeneous layers often greater than 10 m, have been found above the AW core in the Eurasian Basin (EB) of the eastern Arctic. Within these DL staircases, heat and salt fluxes are determined by the mechanisms for vertical transport through the high-gradient regions (HGRs) between the homogeneous layers. These HGRs can be thick (up to 5 m and more) and are frequently complex, being composed of multiple small steps or continuous stratification. Microstructure data collected in the EB in 2007 and 2008 are used to estimate heat fluxes through large steps in three ways: using the measured dissipation rate in the large homogeneous layers; utilizing empirical flux laws based on the density ratio and temperature step across HGRs after scaling to account for the presence of multiple small DL interfaces within each HGR; and averaging estimates of heat fluxes computed separately for individual small interfaces (as laminar conductive fluxes), small convective layers (via dissipation rates within small DL layers), and turbulent patches (using dissipation rate and buoyancy) within each HGR. Diapycnal heat fluxes through HGRs evaluated by each method agree with each other and range from ~2 to ~8 W m−2, with an average flux of ~3–4 W m−2. These large fluxes confirm a critical role for the DL instability in cooling and thickening the AW layer as it circulates around the eastern Arctic Ocean.

Paleoceanographic evolution of the SW Svalbard margin (76°N) since 20,000 14C yr BP

2007 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 100-114 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tine L. Rasmussen ◽  
Erik Thomsen ◽  
Marta A. Ślubowska ◽  
Simon Jessen ◽  
Anders Solheim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Surface Water ◽  
Water Mass ◽  
Atlantic Water ◽  
Subsurface Water ◽  
Planktic Foraminifera ◽  
Surface Conditions ◽  
Polar Surface ◽  
Warm Core ◽  
Heinrich Event ◽  
Benthic Environment

AbstractTwo cores from the southwestern shelf and slope of Storfjorden, Svalbard, taken at 389 m and 1485 m water depth have been analyzed for benthic and planktic foraminifera, oxygen isotopes, and ice-rafted debris. The results show that over the last 20,000 yr, Atlantic water has been continuously present on the southwestern Svalbard shelf. However, from 15,000 to 10,000 14C yr BP, comprising the Heinrich event H1 interval, the Bølling–Allerød interstades and the Younger Dryas stade, it flowed as a subsurface water mass below a layer of polar surface water. In the benthic environment, the shift to interglacial conditions occurred at 10,000 14C yr BP. Due to the presence of a thin upper layer of polar water, surface conditions remained cold until ca. 9000 14C yr BP, when the warm Atlantic water finally appeared at the surface. Neither extensive sea ice cover nor large inputs of meltwater stopped the inflow of Atlantic water. Its warm core was merely submerged below the cold polar surface water.

scholarly journals Effects of Vertical Water Mass Segregation on Bacterial Community Structure in the Beaufort Sea

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (10) ◽  
pp. 385
Author(s):  
Yunyun Fu ◽  
Richard B. Rivkin ◽  
Andrew S. Lang
Keyword(s):  
Bacterial Community ◽  
Sea Ice ◽  
Arctic Ocean ◽  
Community Composition ◽  
Bacterial Communities ◽  
Water Mass ◽  
Beaufort Sea ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
The Arctic Ocean ◽  
Mass Segregation

The Arctic Ocean is one of the least well-studied marine microbial ecosystems. Its low-temperature and low-salinity conditions are expected to result in distinct bacterial communities, in comparison to lower latitude oceans. However, this is an ocean currently in flux, with climate change exerting pronounced effects on sea-ice coverage and freshwater inputs. How such changes will affect this ecosystem are poorly constrained. In this study, we characterized the bacterial community compositions at different depths in both coastal, freshwater-influenced, and pelagic, sea-ice-covered locations in the Beaufort Sea in the western Canadian Arctic Ocean. The environmental factors controlling the bacterial community composition and diversity were investigated. Alphaproteobacteria dominated the bacterial communities in samples from all depths and stations. The Pelagibacterales and Rhodobacterales groups were the predominant taxonomic representatives within the Alphaproteobacteria. Bacterial communities in coastal and offshore samples differed significantly, and vertical water mass segregation was the controlling factor of community composition among the offshore samples, regardless of the taxonomic level considered. These data provide an important baseline view of the bacterial community in this ocean system that will be of value for future studies investigating possible changes in the Arctic Ocean in response to global change and/or anthropogenic disturbance.

Early to mid-Holocene Atlantic water influx and deglacial meltwater events, Beaufort Sea Slope, Arctic Ocean

2004 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
John T. Andrews ◽  
Gita Dunhill
Keyword(s):  
Arctic Ocean ◽  
Planktonic Foraminifera ◽  
Sediment Accumulation ◽  
Beaufort Sea ◽  
Atlantic Water ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Silty Clay ◽  
Cold Event ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Average Grain Size

Holocene high-resolution cores from the margin of the Arctic Ocean are rare. Core P189AR-P45 collected in 405-m water depth on the Beaufort Sea slope, west of the Mackenzie River delta (70°33.03′N and 141°52.08′W), is in close vertical proximity to the present-day upper limit of modified Atlantic water. The 5.11-m core spans the interval between ∼6800 and 10,400 14C yr B.P. (with an 800-yr ocean reservoir correction). The sediment is primarily silty clay with an average grain-size of 9 φ. The chronology is constrained by seven radiocarbon dates. The rate of sediment accumulation averaged 1.35 mm/yr. Stable isotopic data (δ18O and δ13C) were obtained on the polar planktonic foraminifera Neogloboquadrina pachyderma (s) and the benthic infaunal species Cassidulina neoteretis. A distinct low-δ18O event is captured in both the benthic and planktonic data at ∼10,000 14C yr B.P.—probably recording the glacial Lake Agassiz outburst flood associated with the North Atlantic preboreal cold event. The benthic foraminifera are dominated in the earliest Holocene by C. neoteretis, a species associated with modified Atlantic water masses. This species decreases toward the core top with a marked environmental reversal occurring ∼7800 14C yr B.P. possibly coincident with the northern hemisphere 8200 cal yr B.P. cold event.

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