| Session Details | |
| Section | OS - Ocean Sciences |
| Session Title | Ocean Mixing: the Roles of Wind, Tides, Lee Waves, Topography, and Biota |
| Main Convener | Dr. Robin Robertson (University of New South Wales, Australia) |
| Co-convener(s) | Prof. Toshiyuki Hibiya (The University of Tokyo, Japan) Dr. Craig Stevens (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA), New Zealand) |
| Session Description | Ocean mixing is one of the most prominent problems in physical oceanography and climate modeling today. Mixing maintains the ocean’s vertical stratification, contributes to the global overturning circulation, distributes nutrients and larvae for biological productivity and fisheries, redistributes heat and salt, and influences climate dynamics. The localized and sporadic nature of mixing and the wide range of the many contributing processes, spanning scales from centimetres to hundreds of kilometres makes it difficult both to measure and to simulate. The most prominent mixing processes are wind and tides; however, recently lee waves and the biota have been recognized as contributing, along with flow over sills and other interactions with topographic features. These processes induce mixing in estuaries, the shallow waters of the continental shelf, and the deep ocean basins. This session invites research concerning all aspects of ocean mixing, including wind-driven mixing, tidal mixing, lee wave mixing, sill-induced mixing, and biologically-induced mixing. It encompasses mixing within the water column from the surface to the sea bed and the spatial and temporal dependencies of mixing. Both observational and modelling approaches to this topic are welcome, along with theoretical approaches. |