Abstract
The role is examined of small scale turbulence in determining the distribution of chemical species and other scalar quantities. Turbulent stirring is identified as the cumulative effect of fluctuations in the velocity components combined with fluctuations in the concentrations. Recent work enables the vertical eddy diffusivity coefficient to be parameterized in terms of small scale parameters for two portions of the water column; the region just below the surface and the region that is stratified. Much more information is necessary before parameterizations can be related directly to bulk parameters such as wind speed or Väisälä frequency. Recent measurements from a submarine of turbulent fluctuations and salt fingers are shown as examples of the small scale processes in the ocean.
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© 1986 Plenum Press, New York
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Osborn, T. (1986). Turbulence in the Upper Layer. In: Burton, J.D., Brewer, P.G., Chesselet, R. (eds) Dynamic Processes in the Chemistry of the Upper Ocean. NATO Conference Series, vol 17. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-5215-0_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-5215-0_8
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