Seasonal variability of submesoscale vertical heat transport in the Kuroshio Extension
Submesoscale processes associated with strong vertical velocities play significant roles in the vertical transport of tracers between the ocean surface and the interior,including heat,buoyancy,and mass.Based on the results of the(1/48)° LLC4320 model,this study investigates the seasonal variations of submesoscale vertical heat transport in the Kuroshio Extension.The results show that submesoscale vertical heat transport in the Kuroshio Ex-tension exhibits distinct seasonal variations,with strong transport in spring and winter,and weaker transport in summer and autumn.The variation of net submesoscale vertical heat flux in the upper ocean is consistent with the trend of mixed layer depth,which shows overall upward submesoscale heat transport above the mixed layer and strong alternating positive and negative submesoscale vertical heat transport below the mixed layer,resulting in rel-atively small net submesoscale vertical heat transport.Coherent spectral analysis of vertical heat flux wavenumber-frequency suggests that submesoscale vertical heat transport below the mixed layer may be caused by linear intern-al waves,but the upward and downward vertical heat transports induced by linear internal waves counteract each other,leading to a reduced net vertical heat transport after averaging over the season.
Kuroshio Extensionsubmesoscalevertical heat transport
NETL
NSTL
万方数据
