Finescale structure of the T-S relation in the eastern North Atlantic

Abstract

Distributions of temperature (T) and salinity (S) and their relationship in the oceans are the result of a balance between T-S variability generated at the surface by air-sea fluxes and its removal by molecular dissipation. In this paper the role of different motions in setting the cascade of T-S variance to dissipation scales is quantified using data from the North Atlantic Tracer Release Experiment (NATRE). The NATRE observational programs include fine- and microscale measurements and provide a snapshot of T-S variability across a wide range of scales from basin to molecular. It is found that microscale turbulence controls the rate of thermal dissipation in the thermocline. At this level the T-S relation is established through a balance between large-scale advection by the gyre circulation and small-scale turbulence. Further down, at the level of intermediate and Mediterranean waters, mesoscale eddies are the rate-controlling process. The transition between the two regimes is related to the presence of a strong salinity gradient along density surfaces associated with the outflow of Mediterranean waters. Mesoscale eddies stir this gradient and produce a rich filamentation and salinity-compensated temperature inversions: isopycnal stirring and diapycnal mixing are both required to explain the T-S relation at depth. © 2005 American Meteorological Society.