We consider the extent to which the difference in mean sea level (MSL) measured on the North American Atlantic coast either side of Cape Hatteras varies as a consequence of dynamical changes in the ocean caused by fluctuations in the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). From analysis of tide gauge data, we know that changes in MSL-difference and NAO index are correlated on decadal to century timescales enabling a scale factor of MSL-difference change per unit change in NAO index to be estimated. Changes in trend in the NAO index have been small during the past few centuries (when measured using windows of order 60 to 120 years). Therefore, if the same scale factor applies through this period of time, the corresponding changes in trend in MSL-difference for the past few centuries should also have been small. It is suggested thereby that the sea level records for recent centuries obtained from salt marshes (adjusted for long-term vertical land movements) should have essentially the same NAO-driven trends south and north of Cape Hatteras, only differing due to contributions from other processes such as changes in the Meridional Overturning Circulation or 'geophysical fingerprints'. The salt marsh data evidently support this interpretation within their uncertainties for the past few centuries, and perhaps even for the past millennium.Recommendations are made on how greater insight might be obtained by acquiring more measurements and by improved modelling of the sea level response to wind along the shelf.

In the Southern Ocean, small-scale turbulence causes diapycnal mixing which influences important water mass transformations, in turn impacting large-scale ocean transports such as the Meridional Overturning Circulation (MOC), a key controller of Earth's climate. We present direct observations of mixing over the Antarctic continental slope between water masses that are part of the Southern Ocean MOC. A 12 h time series of microstructure turbulence measurements, hydrography, and velocity observations off Elephant Island, north of the Antarctic Peninsula, reveals two concurrent bursts of elevated dissipation of O(10 −6 ) W kg −1 , resulting in heat fluxes ∼10 times higher than basin-integrated Drake Passage estimates. This occurs across the boundary between adjacent adiabatic upwelling and downwelling overturning cells. Ray tracing to nearby topography shows mixing between 300 and 400 m is consistent with the breaking of locally generated internal tidal waves. Since similar conditions extend to much of the Antarctic continental slope where these water masses outcrop, diapycnal mixing may contribute significantly to upwelling.

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The weakly stratified bottom boundary layer (wsBBL) of the global ocean is currently unmapped; even the definition of the wsBBL layer is yet lacking. However, recent studies point to the wsBBL as a region where most of the abyssal water transformation takes place. In this study, historical high‐resolution density profiles are used to map the properties of the wsBBL in the global ocean. We use a density gradient criteria ( 1×10−5 kg m– 4) to define the top of the layer. The thickness of the wsBBL varies from several meters to over a thousand meters and can be used as a rule of thumb to differentiate basin walls from the basin bottom, respectively. Although the thickness varies greatly, the pressure at the top of the wsBBL varies relatively smoothly allowing us to map its distribution across the ocean along with the density of the wsBBL. The neutral density, γwsBBL, and pressure, PwsBBL, of the upper boundary of the wsBBL are highly correlated within each ocean basin. Diagrams of γwsBBL versus PwsBBL clearly differentiate the different basins, connected by the narrow channels, along the pathways of abyssal water circulation. The diagrams give insight into the different mechanisms of abyssal water transformation and highlight locations where transformation happens: inter‐basin channels and over some parts of mid‐oceanic ridges such as found in the Brazil Basin, in the Guiana Basin, and in the Southwest Pacific Basin.