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Oceanic convective mixing and the impact on air‐sea gas transfer velocity
Author(s) -
Rutgersson A.,
Smedman A.,
Sahlée E.
Publication year - 2011
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 - 10.1029/2010gl045581
Subject(s) - eddy , mixed layer , convection , buoyancy , convective mixing , mixing (physics) , turbulence , mechanics , diffusion , free convective layer , scaling , atmospheric sciences , environmental science , surface layer , geology , meteorology , materials science , thermodynamics , layer (electronics) , climatology , physics , geometry , mathematics , quantum mechanics , composite material
Combination of surface water cooling and a deep ocean mixed layer generates convective eddies scaling with the depth of a mixed layer that enhances the efficiency of the air‐sea transfer of CO 2 (and possibly other gases). This enhancement is explained by the convective eddies disturbing the molecular diffusion layer and inducing increased turbulent mixing in the water. The enhancement can be introduced into existing formulations for calculating the air‐sea exchange of gases by using an additional resistance, due to large‐scale convection acting in parallel with other processes. The additional resistance is expressed here as = γ, where characterizes the relative role of surface shear and buoyancy forces.