On the Magnitude of Canyon‐Induced Mixing
Nazarian, Robert H.; Burns, Christian M.; Legg, Sonya; Buijsman, Maarten C.; Kaur, Harpreet; Arbic, Brian K.
2021-11
Citation
Nazarian, Robert H.; Burns, Christian M.; Legg, Sonya; Buijsman, Maarten C.; Kaur, Harpreet; Arbic, Brian K. (2021). "On the Magnitude of Canyon‐Induced Mixing." Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 126(11): n/a-n/a.
Abstract
The location of mixing due to internal tides is important for both the ocean circulation as well as local biogeochemical processes. Numerous observations and modeling studies have shown that submarine canyons may be regions of enhanced internal tide‐driven mixing, but there has not yet been a systematic study of all submarine canyons resolved in bathymetric datasets. Here, we parameterize the internal tide‐driven dissipation from a suite of simulations and pair this with a global high‐resolution, internal tide‐resolving model and bathymetric dataset to estimate the internal‐tide‐driven dissipation that occurs in all documented submarine canyons. We find that submarine canyons dissipate a significant fraction of the incoming internal tide’s energy, which is consistent with observations. When globally integrated, submarine canyons are responsible for dissipating 30.8–75.3 GW, or 3.2%–7.8% of the energy input into the M2‐frequency internal tides. This percentage of the internal tide energy that is dissipated in submarine canyons is comparable to or larger than previous calculations using extrapolations from observations of single canyons.Plain Language SummaryInternal waves, or waves that propagate in density layers below the surface of the ocean, are responsible for transporting a significant amount of energy throughout the ocean. When these waves break, they deposit their energy in local mixing events. Submarine canyons have been identified as a type of topography that leads to significant internal wave‐driven mixing. In this study, we use a global map of canyons, together with a high‐resolution ocean model, to calculate the percentage of internal wave energy that is lost to mixing in submarine canyons. We find that a significant fraction of the incident internal wave energy is lost within each submarine canyon. We then sum the energy loss for all submarine canyons to calculate the amount of internal wave‐driven mixing that occurs within canyons over the global ocean. We find that approximately 5%, a non‐negligible amount, of the energy in the global M2‐frequency internal wavefield is lost in canyons. This percentage of the internal wave energy that is lost in submarine canyons is comparable to or larger than previous calculations using extrapolations from observations of single canyons.Key PointsWe present a framework for estimating the range of global internal tide‐driven dissipation in submarine canyonsSubmarine canyons may dissipate approximately 5% of the energy input into the global internal tidesPrior estimates of canyon‐driven dissipation may be underestimates, as regions of max canyon‐induced mixing have been un‐ or under‐observedPublisher
Elsevier Scientific Publishing Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
ISSN
2169-9275 2169-9291
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