Joshua Allen Lanham

Abstract Small-scale turbulent mixing in the ocean interior is vital in governing ocean circulation and tracer distributions, and hence global climate. However, the planetary extent of this role and its dependence on the microphysics of mixing remain inadequately understood. Here, we emphasize the variety of spatio-temporal scales on which such interior turbulent mixing can shape the climate system.

Abstract The Arctic Ocean has been changing rapidly in a warming climate. To monitor these changes, it is useful to classify the Arctic Ocean into water masses-bodies of water with similar origin and physical and biogeochemical properties. However, there are significant barriers to Arctic water mass classification: observations of seawater properties are sparse, and traditional classification relies on extensive knowledge of water mass characteristics and circulation.

Abstract Basal melting of Antarctic ice shelves is primarily driven by heat delivery from warm Circumpolar Deep Water. Here we classify near-shelf water masses in an eddy-resolving numerical model of the Southern Ocean to develop a unified view of warm water intrusion onto the Antarctic continental shelf. We identify four regimes on seasonal timescales. In regime 1 (East Antarctica), heat intrusions are driven by easterly winds via Ekman dynamics.