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Hawaii Ocean-Mixing Experiment | |||||
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Oceanographers are currently facing a profound challenge to their understanding of one of the ocean's most important physical processes, turbulent mixing. Turbulence, chaotic, non-uniform fluid flow, is the stirring of sea water which causes the diffusion of nutrients, other chemicals, heat, and momentum thoughout the ocean. The ocean's steady-state temperature profile is determined by downward diffusion of heat balanced against upward currents. A problem currently puzzling the world's oceanographers is that independent measurements of the ocean's temperature profile and the amount of turbulent mixing are not consistent. Measurements find approximately one tenth the mixing necessary to agree with the warm temperatures detected in the ocean's depth.
Schematic of energy cascade near abrupt topography like the Hawaiian Ridge. Energy is input from the barotropic tide and cascades to internal tides and turbulence. Figure courtesy J. Nash
A long standing suggestion, supported by recent measurements, which is capable of explaining the discrepancy is that mixing does not occur uniformly over the entire ocean, but is concentrated in the vicinity of rough topography. The Hawaii Ocean-Mixing Experiment (HOME) is an effort to test this theory with observations and computational models of mixing along the Hawaiian Ridge. The Hawaiian Ridge is an attractive place for a mixing experiment because the topography is steep and energy is available for mixing in the form of tides which strike the ridge perpendicularly.
Schematic of at-sea components of HOME.
The remainder of the site is organized into four sections:
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HOME is sponsored by the National Science Foundation |
Comments or questions? homeweb@chowder.ucsd.edu |