| Session Details | |
| Section | OS - Ocean Sciences |
| Session Title | Ocean Mixing: Where, Why, How Much, ... |
| Main Convener | Prof. Toshiyuki Hibiya (The University of Tokyo, Japan) |
| Co-convener(s) | Dr. Robin Robertson (University of New South Wales, Australia) |
| Session Description | Interactions of currents and tidal flows with topographic features on the sea floor induce eddies, lee waves, and internal waves. These processes generate horizontal and/or vertical shear in the horizontal velocities and turbulence, which often leads to mixing. This mixing maintains the stratification of the world’s oceans, transports heat across strong currents and fronts, redistributes nutrients and pollution, affects the strength and structure of the global overturing circulation, and plays a key role in climate. Ocean mixing is key for water mass formation and the nutrient pumping known to support planktonic. Presently, ocean mixing, even the relatively well-understood tidal mixing, is not well handled in ocean circulation and climate models. The overarching goal is to increase understanding of the mixing processes in order to improve the handling of mixing processes in the global circulation and climate models. This session invites research concerning interactions of currents, including tidal currents, with topography. It encompasses mixing within the water column from the surface to the sea bed and the topographical and latitudinal dependencies of mixing. Both observational and modelling approaches to this topic are welcome, along with theoretical approaches. |