Internal wave-wave interaction theories and observations support a parameterization for the turbulent dissipation rate and eddy diffusivity K that depends on internal wave shear ͗V z 2 ͘ and strain ͗ z 2 ͘ variances. Its latest incarnation is applied to about 3500 lowered ADCP/CTD profiles from the Indian, Pacific, North Atlantic, and Southern Oceans. Inferred diffusivities K are functions of latitude and depth, ranging from 0.03 ϫ 10 Ϫ4 m 2 s Ϫ1 within 2°of the equator to (0.4-0.5) ϫ 10 Ϫ4 m 2 s Ϫ1 at 50°-70°. Diffusivities K also increase with depth in tropical and subtropical waters. Diffusivities below 4500-m depth exhibit a peak of 0.7 ϫ 10 Ϫ4 m 2 s Ϫ1 between 20°and 30°, latitudes where semidiurnal parametric subharmonic instability is expected to be active. Turbulence is highly heterogeneous. Though the bulk of the vertically integrated dissipation ͐ is contributed from the main pycnocline, hotspots in ͐ show some correlation with small-scale bottom roughness and near-bottom flow at sites where strong surface tidal dissipation resulting from tide-topography interactions has been implicated. Average vertically integrated dissipation rates are 1.0 mW m Ϫ2 , lying closer to the 0.8 mW m Ϫ2 expected for a canonical (Garrett and Munk) internal wave spectrum than the global-averaged deep-ocean surface tide loss of 3.3 mW m Ϫ2 .

[1] The spatial distribution of turbulent dissipation rates and internal wavefield characteristics is analyzed across two contrasting regimes of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), using microstructure and finestructure data collected as part of the Diapycnal and Isopycnal Mixing Experiment in the Southern Ocean (DIMES). Mid-depth turbulent dissipation rates are found to increase from O 1 Â 10in the Scotia Sea, typically reaching 3 Â 10 À9 W kg À1 within a kilometer of the seabed. Enhanced levels of turbulent mixing are associated with strong near-bottom flows, rough topography, and regions where the internal wavefield is found to have enhanced energy, a less-inertial frequency content and a dominance of upward propagating energy. These results strongly suggest that bottomgenerated internal waves play a major role in determining the spatial distribution of turbulent dissipation in the ACC. The energy flux associated with the bottom internal wave generation process is calculated using wave radiation theory, and found to vary between 0.8 mW m À2 in the Southeast Pacific and 14 mW m À2 in the Scotia Sea. Typically, 10%-30% of this energy is found to dissipate within 1 km of the seabed. Comparison between turbulent dissipation rates inferred from finestructure parameterizations and microstructurederived estimates suggests a significant departure from wave-wave interaction physics in the near-field of wave generation sites.

Global ship-based programs, with highly accurate, full water column physical and biogeochemical observations repeated decadally since the 1970s, provide a crucial resource for documenting ocean change. The ocean, a central component of Earth's climate system, is taking up most of Earth's excess anthropogenic heat, with about 19% of this excess in the abyssal ocean beneath 2,000 m, dominated by Southern Ocean warming. The ocean also has taken up about 27% of anthropogenic carbon, resulting in acidification of the upper ocean. Increased stratification has resulted in a decline in oxygen and increase in nutrients in the Northern Hemisphere thermocline and an expansion of tropical oxygen minimum zones. Southern Hemisphere thermocline oxygen increased in the 2000s owing to stronger wind forcing and ventilation. The most recent decade of global hydrography has mapped dissolved organic carbon, a large, bioactive reservoir, for the first time and quantified its contribution to export production (∼20%) and deep-ocean oxygen utilization. Ship-based measurements also show that vertical diffusivity increases from a minimum in the thermocline to a maximum within the bottom 1,500 m, shifting our physical paradigm of the ocean's overturning circulation.

Population connectivity refers to the exchange of individuals among populations: it affects gene flow, regulates population size and function, and mitigates recovery from natural or anthropogenic disturbances. Many populations in the deep sea are spatially fragmented, and will become more so with increasing resource exploitation. Understanding population connectivity is critical for spatial management. For most benthic species, connectivity is achieved by the planktonic larval stage, and larval dispersal is, in turn, regulated by complex interactions between biological and oceanographic processes. Coupled biophysical models, incorporating ocean circulation and biological traits, such as planktonic larval duration (PLD), have been used to estimate population connectivity and generate spatial management plans in coastal and shallow waters. In the deep sea, knowledge gaps in both the physical and biological components are delaying the effective use of this approach. Here, we review the current efforts in conservation in the deep sea and evaluate (1) the relevance of using larval dispersal in the design of marine protected areas and (2) the application of biophysical models in the study of population connectivity. Within biophysical models, PLD can be used to estimate dispersal distance. We propose that a PLD that guarantees a minimum dispersal distance for a wide range of species should be used in the planning of marine protected areas in the deep sea. Based on a review of data on species found at depths >200 m, a PLD of 35 and 69 days ensures a minimum distance for 50 and 75%, respectively, of eurybathic and deep-sea species. We note that more data are required to enhance accuracy and address the high variability in PLD between and within taxonomic groups, limiting generalizations that are often appealing to decision-makers. Given the imminent expansion of resource exploitation in the deep sea, data relevant to spatial management are needed urgently.

We present measurements from two shipboard surveys conducted in summer 2012 that sampled the rim current system around the Nordic Seas from Fram Strait to Denmark Strait. The data reveal that, along a portion of the western boundary of the Nordic Seas, the East Greenland Current (EGC) has three distinct components. In addition to the well‐known shelfbreak branch, there is an inshore branch on the continental shelf as well as a separate branch offshore of the shelfbreak. The inner branch contributes significantly to the overall freshwater transport of the rim current system, and the outer branch transports a substantial amount of Atlantic‐origin Water equatorward. Supplementing our measurements with historical hydrographic data, we argue that the offshore branch is a direct recirculation of the western branch of the West Spitsbergen Current in Fram Strait. The total transport of the shelfbreak EGC (the only branch sampled consistently in all of the sections) decreased toward Denmark Strait. The estimated average transport of dense overflow water ( σθ > 27.8 kg/m3 and θ > 0°C) in the shelfbreak EGC was 2.8 ± 0.7 Sv, consistent with previous moored measurements. For the three sections that crossed the entire EGC system the freshwater flux, relative to a salinity of 34.8, ranged from 127 ± 13 to 81 ± 8 mSv. The hydrographic data reveal that, between Fram Strait and Denmark Strait, the core of the Atlantic‐origin Water in the shelfbreak EGC cools and freshens but changes very little in density.

To close the global overturning circulation, the production and sinking of dense water at high latitudes must be balanced elsewhere by buoyancy gain and upward vertical motion. Hydrographic and microstructure observations from the Brazil Basin in the South Atlantic Ocean indicate that most of the abyssal mixing there takes place on the topographically rough flank of the midocean ridge. In previous studies it has been suggested that the high level of abyssal mixing observed on the ridge flank is primarily caused by breaking internal waves forced by tidal currents. Here, the results from a detailed analysis of velocity, hydrographic, and microstructure data from a ridge-flank canyon are presented. Two-year-long current-meter records indicate that within the canyon there is a significant along-axial mean flow down the density gradient toward the ridge crest. Five hundred meters above the canyon floor the kinetic energy in the subinertial band exceeds that associated with the semidiurnal tides by approximately a factor of 2. The mean dissipation of kinetic energy inside the canyon exceeds that above the ridge-flank topography by approximately a factor of 5. The largest dissipation values were observed downstream of a narrow, 1000-m-high sill that extends across the full width of the canyon. Along the entire canyon, there is a strong association between the presence of sills and along-axial density gradients, while there is no similar association between the presence of depressions and density gradients. Together, these observations suggest that sill-related mixing contributes at least as much to the diapycnal buoyancy flux in the canyon as tidally forced internal-wave breaking, which is not expected to be associated preferentially with sills. While only Ϸ15% of the interfacial area between Antarctic Bottom Water and North Atlantic Deep Water in the Brazil Basin lie inside canyons, the available data suggest that approximately one-half of the diapycnal buoyancy fluxes take place there. In comparison, the region above the ridge-flank topography accounts for about one-third of the buoyancy fluxes. The apparent importance of sill-related processes for mixing in ridge-flank canyons is therefore of global significance, especially considering that such canyons occur on average every 50 km along 2/3 of the global midocean ridge system, and that sills partially block the canyon axes every few tens of kilometers.

Abstract. On the basis of an extensive set of conductivity-temperature-depth, lowered acoustic Doppler current profiler (LADCP), and nephelometry profiles and tow-yos the hydrography, flow field, and particle plume of the Rainbow hydrothermal site on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge are analyzed. In the rift valley the water column is less dense and stratified than both eastern and western off-ridge water, with T/S characteristics consistent with inflow across a sill from the east. The buoyant hydrothermal plumes rise into a strong boundary current flowing along the slope of a topographic high which partially blocks the rift valley below 1950 m. The bulk of the neutrally buoyant plume is advected across a sill which forms both the narrowest and the shallowest part of the valley and acts as a hydraulic control point for the flow below 2000 m. Large-amplitude internal waves consistent with tidal forcing are observed near the sill, but LADCP measurements suggest that the tidal signal is not strong enough to lead to flow reversal at plume depth. Above 2000 rn the mean current across the topography generates lee waves which radiate energy upward and downstream. Density-averaged light-scattering profiles show the hydrothermal particle plume to be Gaussian in depth, even in the near field, where many of the individual profiles are characterized by multiple peaks and the horizontal variability is highest. The temperature anomalies associated with the mean near-source particle plume are of order -$ x 10 -3 øC; that is, the plume is cold/fresh as expected from the background hydrography of the deep Atlantic. Using the flow field, light-scattering, and hydrographic anomaly observations, the heat flux associated with the hydrothermal particle plume at Rainbow is estimated to lie between 1 and $ GW.

No abstract