Observations of turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) dynamics in the ocean surface boundary layer are presented here and compared with results from previous observational, numerical, and analytic studies. As in previous studies, the dissipation rate of TKE is found to be higher in the wavy ocean surface boundary layer than it would be in a flow past a rigid boundary with similar stress and buoyancy forcing. Estimates of the terms in the turbulent kinetic energy equation indicate that, unlike in a flow past a rigid boundary, the dissipation rates cannot be balanced by local production terms, suggesting that the transport of TKE is important in the ocean surface boundary layer. A simple analytic model containing parameterizations of production, dissipation, and transport reproduces key features of the vertical profile of TKE, including enhancement near the surface. The effective turbulent diffusion coefficient for heat is larger than would be expected in a rigid-boundary boundary layer. This diffusion coefficient is predicted reasonably well by a model that contains the effects of shear production, buoyancy forcing, and transport of TKE (thought to be related to wave breaking). Neglect of buoyancy forcing or wave breaking in the parameterization results in poor predictions of turbulent diffusivity. Langmuir turbulence was detected concurrently with a fraction of the turbulence quantities reported here, but these times did not stand out as having significant differences from observations when Langmuir turbulence was not detected.

Recently, the velocity observations of acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs) have been successfully used to estimate turbulent Reynolds stresses in estuaries and tidal channels. However, the presence of surface gravity waves can significantly bias stress estimates, limiting application of the technique in the coastal ocean. This work describes a new approach to estimate Reynolds stresses from ADCP velocities obtained in the presence of waves. The method fits an established semiempirical model of boundary layer turbulence to the measured turbulent cospectra at frequencies below those of surface gravity waves to estimate the stress. Applied to ADCP observations made in weakly stratified waters and variable significant wave heights, estimated near-bottom and near-surface stresses using this method compared well with independent estimates of the boundary stresses in contrast to previous methods. Additionally, the vertical structure of tidal stress estimated using the new approach matched that inferred from a linear momentum balance at stress levels below the estimated stress uncertainties. Because the method makes an estimate of the horizontal turbulent length scales present as part of the model fit, these results can also enable a direct correction for the mean bias errors resulting from instrument tilt, if these scales are long relative to the beam separation.

This study makes direct measurements of turbulent fluxes in the mixed layer in order to close heat and momentum budgets across the air-sea interface and to assess the ability of rigid-boundary turbulence models to predict mean vertical gradients beneath the ocean's wavy surface. Observations were made at 20 Hz at nominal depths of 2.2 and 1.7 m in ϳ16 m of water. A new method is developed to estimate the fluxes and the length scales of dominant flux-carrying eddies from cospectra at frequencies below the wave band. The results are compared to independent estimates of those quantities, with good agreement between the two sets of estimates. The observed temperature gradients were smaller than predicted by standard rigidboundary closure models, consistent with the suggestion that wave breaking and Langmuir circulation increase turbulent diffusivity in the upper ocean. Similarly, the Monin-Obukhov stability function h was smaller in the authors' measurements than the stability functions used in rigid-boundary applications of the Monin-Obukhov similarity theory. The dominant horizontal length scales of flux-carrying turbulent eddies were found to be consistent with observations in the bottom boundary layer of the atmosphere and from laboratory experiments in three ways: 1) in statically unstable conditions, the eddy sizes scaled linearly with distance to the boundary; 2) in statically stable conditions, length scales decreased with increasing downward buoyancy flux; and 3) downwind length scales were larger than crosswind length scales.

Hydrodynamic signals from turbulence and waves may provide marine invertebrate larvae with behavioral cues that affect the pathways and energetic costs of larval delivery to adult habitats. Oysters (Crassostrea virginica) live in sheltered estuaries with strong turbulence and small waves, but their larvae can be transported into coastal waters with large waves. These contrasting environments have different ranges of hydrodynamic signals, because turbulence generally produces higher spatial velocity gradients, whereas waves can produce higher temporal velocity gradients. To understand how physical processes affect oyster larval behavior, transport and energetics, we exposed larvae to different combinations of turbulence and waves in flow tanks with (1) wavy turbulence, (2) a seiche and (3) rectilinear accelerations. We quantified behavioral responses of individual larvae to local instantaneous flows using twophase, infrared particle-image velocimetry. Both high dissipation rates and high wave-generated accelerations induced most larvae to swim faster upward. High dissipation rates also induced some rapid, active dives, whereas high accelerations induced only weak active dives. In both turbulence and waves, faster swimming and active diving were achieved through an increase in propulsive force and power output that would carry a high energetic cost. Swimming costs could be offset if larvae reaching surface waters had a higher probability of being transported shoreward by Stokes drift, whereas diving costs could be offset by enhanced settlement or predator avoidance. These complex behaviors suggest that larvae integrate multiple hydrodynamic signals to manage dispersal tradeoffs, spending more energy to raise the probability of successful transport to suitable locations.

The mechanism that allowed many tens of km of movement of the enormous block slide fl oored by the rootless Heart Mountain detachment fault in NW Wyoming has long been a puzzle. Carbonate-rich microbreccia that is widespread along the fault and in dikes in the upper plate contains accreted grains indistinguishable from those observed as fallout from volcanic eruption clouds (accretionary lapilli) and impact ejecta clouds and in intrusive diatremes. In these settings and also in industrial processing, accreted grains form when particles in a turbulent gaseous suspension containing limited water adhere to a nucleating grain or to each other. Elongate grains in thick microbreccia have strong but diverse shape-preferred orientations unlike those reported from other fault rocks but instead suggestive of turbulent fl ow, and the microbreccia contains layering and other features of sedimentary character that appear to record deposition from suspension rather than frictional processes along a fault. We suggest that frictional heating led to dissociation of carbonate rock along the fault, producing supercritical CO 2 as the suspending medium. High CO 2 pressure drastically reduced friction along the fault and allowed continuation of catastrophic movement, probably initiated by a volcanic or phreatomagmatic explosion, resulting in very large displacement on a lowdipping surface. Earlier slower sliding may have occurred but fi nal emplacement was rapid (minutes) and spectacular.

Abstract. Observational gaps limit our understanding of particle flux attenuation through the upper mesopelagic because available measurements (sediment traps and radiochemical tracers) have limited temporal resolution, are labor-intensive, and require ship support. Here, we conceptually evaluate an autonomous, optical proxy-based method for high-resolution observations of particle flux. We present four continuous records of particle flux collected with autonomous profiling floats in the western Sargasso Sea and the subtropical North Pacific, as well as one shorter record of depth-resolved particle flux near the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study (BATS) and Oceanic Flux Program (OFP) sites. These observations illustrate strong variability in particle flux over very short (~1-day) timescales, but at longer timescales they reflect patterns of variability previously recorded during sediment trap time series. While particle flux attenuation at BATS/OFP agreed with the canonical power-law model when observations were averaged over a month, flux attenuation was highly variable on timescales of 1–3 days. Particle fluxes at different depths were decoupled from one another and from particle concentrations and chlorophyll fluorescence in the immediately overlying surface water, consistent with horizontal advection of settling particles. We finally present an approach for calibrating this optical proxy in units of carbon flux, discuss in detail the related, inherent physical and optical assumptions, and look forward toward the requirements for the quantitative application of this method in highly time-resolved studies of particle export and flux attenuation.

Plankton exhibit diverse and dramatic responses to fluid motions, and these behaviors are likely critical for survival and fitness. Fluid motions can be generated by organisms or by physical processes, including turbulence and surface gravity waves. Physical processes vary geographically in their intensity and generate hydrodynamic signals experienced by plankton as fluid forces on their sensory receptors. In this synthesis, we review how turbulence and waves vary in space, the scales and statistics of their motions, and the forces exerted on plankton. We then quantify the hydrodynamic signals produced by turbulence and waves in four seascape types-surf zones, inlets and estuaries, the continental shelf, and the open ocean-using published dissipation rates, wind and wave data from buoys, and observations from two coastal sites in Massachusetts, USA. We relate these geographic patterns in signals to the observed behaviors of example species and to the forces sensed by typical plankters with different receptor types. Turbulence-generated shears are largest in the surf zone, inlets and estuaries, while wave-generated accelerations are larger offshore; as a result, each seascape exhibits some range of combined shears and accelerations that is distinct. These signals generate forces on plankton that vary among habitats and with plankton size and swimming speed. Spatial patterns in fluid forces create a potential mechanism for dispersing larvae to distinguish habitats by their hydrodynamic signatures. However, turbulence can be strong in all seascapes and may cause widespread interference in signaling among predators and prey. Plankton with a single receptor type could identify nearshore habitats, while those with multiple receptor types potentially could distinguish inshore vs. offshore seascapes or decode signals produced by physical processes and by other organisms.

Assigning a physical interpretation to turbulent fluctuations beneath waves is complex because eddies are advected by unsteady wave orbital motion. Here, the kinematic effects of wave orbital motion on turbulent fluctuations at a fixed location were investigated using model turbulence spatial spectra (κ spectra) together with a general form of the frozen turbulence approximation. Model autospectra and cospectra included an inertial subrange, a rolloff at energy-containing scales (L = 2π/κ0), and a dissipation range. Turbulence was advected by a background flow composed of waves (rms orbital velocity σw, peak frequency ωw, and spectral width Δωw) propagating parallel to a current uc. Expressions were derived for turbulence frequency spectra (ω spectra), and parameters were varied across ranges typical in the coastal ocean. Except close to the wave band, the ω-spectrum shape collapses with two dimensionless parameters, a velocity ratio σw/uc, and a time-scale ratio ucκ0/ωw, which can be used to diagnose the effects of wave advection on turbulence spectra. As σw/uc increases, less variance and covariance appear at low frequencies (ω < ucκ0) and more appear at high frequencies (ω > ucκ0). If σw/uc > 2, wave advection must be taken into account when estimating turbulence length scales and integral quantities (e.g., Reynolds stress) from the low-frequency portion of spectra. The offset of the −5/3 region due to waves is unaffected by the rolloff or dissipation range; therefore, previously proposed methods for estimating dissipation rate from wave-affected −5/3 spectra are robust. Although idealized, the results inform the interpretation of turbulence ω spectra beneath waves and guide the estimation of turbulence properties from those spectra.