Enhanced mixing across the gyre boundary at the Gulf Stream front.

ABSTRACT: The Gulf Stream front separates the North Atlantic subtropical and subpolar ocean gyres, water masses with distinct physical and biogeochemical properties. Exchange across the front is believed to be necessary to balance the freshwater budget of the subtropical gyre and to support the biological productivity of the region; however, the physical mechanisms responsible have been the subject of long-standing debate. Here, the evolution of a passive dye released within the north wall of the Gulf Stream provides direct observational evidence of enhanced mixing across the Gulf Stream front. Numerical simulations indicate that the observed rapid cross-frontal mixing occurs via shear dispersion, generated by frontal instabilities and episodic vertical mixing. This provides unique direct evidence f

SUBMITTER: Wenegrat JO 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7395506 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature