The energy and momentum balance of an abyssal overflow across a major sill in the Samoan Passage is estimated from two highly resolved towed sections, set 16 months apart, and results from a two-dimensional numerical simulation. Driven by the density …
Exploring physical oceanography through dance
Abyssal waters forming the lower limb of the global overturning circulation flow through the Samoan Passage and are modified by intense mixing. Thorpe scale based estimates of dissipation from moored profilers deployed on top of two sills for 17 …
The main source feeding the abyssal circulation of the North Pacific is the deep, northward flow of 5–6 Sverdrups (Sv; 1 Sv ≡ 10$^6$ m$^3$ s$^{−1}$) through the Samoan Passage. A recent field campaign has shown that this flow is hydraulically …
NSF-funded project to study hydraulic processes in the abyssal flow through the Samoan Passage
The abyssal flow of water through the Samoan Passage accounts for the majority of the bottom water renewal in the North Pacific, thereby making it an important element of the Meridional Overturning Circulation. Here we report recent measurements of …
The flow of dense water through the Samoan Passage accounts for the major part of the bottom water renewal in the North Pacific and is thus an important element of the Pacific Meridional Overturning Circulation. A recent set of highly resolved …
We report the first direct turbulence observations in the Samoan Passage, a 40-km-wide notch in the South Pacific bathymetry through which flows most of the water supplying the North Pacific abyssal circulation. Observed turbulence is 1,000 to …
NSF-funded project to study volume transport and mixing processes in the abyssal flow through the Samoan Passage