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The stratified ocean mixes episodically in small patches where energy is dissipated and density smoothed over scales of centimeters. The net effect of these countless events effects the shape of the ocean's thermocline, how heat is transported from the sea surface to the interior, and how dense bottom water is lifted into the global overturning circulation. This book explores the primary factors affecting mixing, beginning with the thermodynamics of seawater, how they vary in the ocean and how they depend on the physical properties of seawater. Turbulence and double diffusion are then discussed, which determines how mixing evolves and the different impacts it has on velocity, temperature, and salinity. It reviews insights from both laboratory studies and numerical modelling, emphasising the assumptions and limitations of these methods. This is an excellent reference for researchers and graduate students working to advance our understanding of mixing, including oceanographers, atmospheric scientists and limnologists.
The last chapter combines themes from earlier chapters to summarize what has been learned about mixing in the stratified ocean. The nature of finestructure is explored first, as it contains signatures of the processes producing the mixing, as well as modulating the development of turbulent patches. After exploring how patches are identified, their characteristics are discussed. Evidence for the other major mixing process, double diffusion, is presented, principally as signatures in horizontal tows. The chapter concludes with summaries of mixing in three important regions differing from the open ocean pycnocline: the Southern Ocean, the Arctic, and ocean ridges.
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