文献类型：期刊文献

英文题名：Weak Thermocline Mixing in the North Pacific Low-Latitude Western Boundary Current System

作者：Liu, Zhiyu[1,2];Lian, Qiang[1,2,3];Zhang, Fangtao[1,2];Wang, Lei[1,2];Li, Mingming[4];Bai, Xiaolin[1,2];Wang, Jianing[5];Wang, Fan[5]

机构：[1]Xiamen Univ, State Key Lab Marine Environm Sci, Coll Ocean & Earth Sci, Xiamen, Peoples R China;[2]Xiamen Univ, Dept Phys Oceanog, Coll Ocean & Earth Sci, Xiamen, Peoples R China;[3]Oregon State Univ, Coll Earth Ocean & Atmospher Sci, Corvallis, OR 97331 USA;[4]Guangdong Ocean Univ, Coll Oceanog & Meteorol, Zhanjiang, Peoples R China;[5]Chinese Acad Sci, Inst Oceanol, Key Lab Ocean Circulat & Waves, Qingdao, Peoples R China

年份：2017

卷号：44

期号：20

起止页码：10530

外文期刊名：GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS

收录：SCI-EXPANDED(收录号：WOS:000416761600053)、、EI(收录号：20174404321669)、Scopus(收录号：2-s2.0-85032273733)、WOS

基金：This work was jointly supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (2012CB417402), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41476006 and 41622601), the Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province of China (2015J06010), and the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDA11010204). We thank the crew of the R/V Kexue for their assistance in data collection and two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments and recommendations that help improve clarity of the paper. Bill Smyth is thanked for proof reading and helpful comments. Data analyzed in this paper are available for download at http://jmp.sh/DJ5vucz.

语种：英文

外文关键词：Turbulence - Stream flow - Temperature distribution

外文摘要：Despite its potential importance in the global climate system, mixing properties of the North Pacific low-latitude western boundary current system (LLWBC) remained unsampled until very recently. We report here on the first measurements of turbulence microstructure associated with these currents, made in the western boundary region of the tropical North Pacific east of the Philippines. The results suggest that thermocline mixing in the North Pacific LLWBC is generally weak with the diapycnal diffusivity kappa(rho) similar to O(10(-6))m(2) s(-1). This is consistent with predictions from internal wave-wave interaction theory that mixing due to internal wave breaking is significantly reduced at low latitudes. Enhanced mixing is found to be associated with a permanent cyclonic eddy, the Mindanao Eddy, but mainly at its south and north flanks. There, kappa(rho) is elevated by an order of magnitude due to eddy-induced geostrophic shear. Mixing in the eddy core is at the background level with no indication of enhancement.