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The possible role in the ocean heat budget of eddy‐induced mixing due to air‐sea interaction
Author(s) -
Greatbatch Richard J.,
Zhai Xiaoming,
Eden Carsten,
Olbers Dirk
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2007gl029533
Subject(s) - mixing (physics) , eddy , zonal and meridional , environmental science , ocean heat content , ocean current , climatology , atmospheric sciences , geology , meteorology , mechanics , oceanography , physics , turbulence , quantum mechanics
The traditional point of view is that in the ocean, the meridional transport of heat is achieved by the wind‐driven and meridional overturning circulations. Here we point out the fundamental role played by ocean mixing processes. We argue that mixing (i.e., water mass conversion) associated with eddies, especially in the surface mixed layer, can play an important role in closing the ocean heat budget. Our results argue that the lateral mixing applied at the surface of ocean/climate models should be playing an important role in the heat balance of these models, indicating the need for physically‐based parameterizations to represent this mixing.