PS011
Spice and Mixing: Untangling the Role of Isopycnal Processes in Heat, Salt, and Nutrient Transport

Session ID#: 258207

Session Description:
The role that temperature–salinity compensated structures (spice structures) play in ocean stratification and mixing is still not fully understood; however, growing evidence suggests that these structures influence the redistribution of heat, salt, and nutrients both across and along isopycnal surfaces. This session aims to explore the intersection of spice variability, double diffusion, and mixing, with the goal of better understanding how their interplay shapes fine- and micro-scale transport processes. 

We invite contributions that investigate how spice variability affects mixing mechanisms such as salt fingers, diffusive convection and submesoscale stirring, processes that drive buoyancy and tracer flux and ultimately change stratification. Changes in stratification not only impact T-S structure but also affect biogeochemical distributions and acoustic properties. Submissions using theoretical frameworks, observational data and techniques, numerical models, or new parameterizations are welcome. Studies that examine the relationships between spice gradients, density ratio, and dissipation rates (χ, ε), or that explore the links between lateral stirring and vertical mixing, are particularly encouraged.

We welcome multidisciplinary perspectives spanning physical oceanography, acoustics, and biogeochemistry. This session seeks to highlight new insights and approaches that advance our understanding of mixing processes operating both across and along isopycnal surfaces.

Co-Sponsor(s):
  • Coastal and Estuarine Hydrodynamics and Sediment Processes -
  • Physical-Biological Interactions -
  • Physical Oceanography: Mesoscale and Smaller -
Index Terms:

4524 Fine structure and microstructure [OCEANOGRAPHY: PHYSICAL]
4536 Hydrography and tracers [OCEANOGRAPHY: PHYSICAL]
4568 Turbulence, diffusion, and mixing processes [OCEANOGRAPHY: PHYSICAL]
Student/Early Career Chair:  Saviour Udo-Akuaibit, University of Calabar, Department of Physical Oceanography, Calabar, Nigeria
Primary Chair:  Nicole Couto, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, La Jolla, United States
Co-chairs:  Alejandra Sanchez-Rios, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, United States, Elizabeth Fine, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, United States and Jennifer A MacKinnon, University of California San Diego, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, United States
 
Mesoscale Eddy Stirring and Diapycnal Mixing for the Subtropical North Atlantic and Gulf Stream (2008166)
Dr. Esperanza Broullón, PhD1, Bieito Fernandez Castro2, Alberto Naveira Garabato2, Louis Clément3 and Ric Williams4, (1)University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom, (2)University of Southampton, School of Ocean and Earth Science, Southampton, United Kingdom, (3)National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, United Kingdom, (4)Liverpool University, School of Environmental Sciences, Liverpool, United Kingdom
 
Generation of finescale thermohaline variability in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (2009843)
Maya Jakes1,2, Helen Elizabeth Phillips3,4, Annie Foppert4,5, Nathaniel L. Bindoff3,6, Kurt L Polzin7, Stephen R Rintoul6,8, James Wyatt1,9 and Yann-Treden Tranchant1,4, (1)Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia, (2)National Oceanography Centre, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom, (3)Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, Australia, (4)Australian Antarctic Program Partnership, Hobart, TAS, Australia, (5)University of Tasmania, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, Hobart, TAS, Australia, (6)Australian Antarctic Program Partnership, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, Australia, (7)Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, United States, (8)Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Environment, Hobart, TAS, Australia, (9)Australian Antarctic Program Partnership, Hobart, Australia
 
Finger Growth to Mixed Layers in Double Diffusive Instability: Simultaneous Scalar-Velocity Measurements (2010496)
Mohammad Mohaghar, PhD1, Ewan M Pritchard2, Blaire C Doss2 and Donald R Webster1, (1)Georgia Institute of Technology, Civil & Environmental Engineering, Atlanta, GA, United States, (2)Georgia Institute of Technology, Civil & Environmental Engineering, Atlanta, United States
 
Subinertial Tidal Forcing of Turbulence and Mixing at the Jan Mayen Ridge (2011373)
Harper L. Simmons1, Leah Johnson2, Ruth C Musgrave3, Ilker Fer4, Luc Rainville1, Takashi Ijichi5 and Louis C St. Laurent6, (1)University of Washington, Seattle, United States, (2)Applied Physics Laboratory University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States, (3)Dalhousie University, Department of Oceanography, Halifax, NS, Canada, (4)University of Bergen, Geophysical Institute, Bergen, Norway, (5)The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan, (6)Applied Physics Laboratory University of Washington, Seattle, United States
 
Transport and mixing of nutrients in the Indonesian Seas (2011678)
Anne Elizabeth Adelson1, Maxim Nikurashin1, Beatriz Pena-Molino2, Bernadette Sloyan2 and Helen Elizabeth Phillips1, (1)University of Tasmania, Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, Hobart, TAS, Australia, (2)Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Hobart, TAS, Australia
 
Thermohaline Evolution in the Bay of Bengal: Freshwater Intrusion Effects (2013242)
Mr. Asish K Sasidharan, Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services, Hyderabad, India; Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies, Faculty of Ocean Science and Technology, Cochin, India, Praveen Kumar, Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services, Ocean Observation Network, Hyderabad, India and B Rohith, Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services, Ocean Modeling and Data Assimilation, Hyderabad, India
 
Global observational estimates of thermohaline transformations by diapycnal and isopycnal mixing (2018185)
Bieito Fernandez Castro1, Sjoerd Groeskamp2, Louis Clement3, Dr. Esperanza Broullón, PhD4, Dafydd Gwyn Evans4 and Alberto Naveira Garabato1, (1)University of Southampton, School of Ocean and Earth Science, Southampton, United Kingdom, (2)Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Ocean Systems, Den Burg, Netherlands, (3)National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, United Kingdom, (4)University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom
 
Microstructure Observations and Mixing Parameterizations along an Atlantic Transect in Very Weak Turbulence (2020042)
Niek Kusters, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Ocean Systems, Den Burg, Netherlands, Mr. Sjoerd Groeskamp, PhD, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Ocean Systems (OCS), Texel, Netherlands, Bieito Fernandez Castro, University of Southampton, School of Ocean and Earth Science, Southampton, United Kingdom and Hans van Haren, Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, Den Burg, Netherlands
 
Estimating Variance Production, Eddy Diffusivity, and Eddy Heat Fluxes from Argo Floats (2020278)
Andrew Fagerheim and Dhruv Balwada, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Palisades, United States
 
Pathways to Water-Mass Transformation in the Cape Basin: Spatial Patterns and Mixing Rates (2021082)
Lindsay Grose, Kathleen A Donohue and Chris Roman, University of Rhode Island, Narragansett, United States
 
Turbulent drivers of ventilation by small-scale oxygenated intrusions in the Arabian Sea Oxygen Minimum Zone. (2023530)
Mauro Pinto1, Anneke T Doeschate2, Leo Middleton1 and Dr. Bastien Yves Queste1, (1)University of Gothenburg, Department of Marine Sciences, Gothenburg, Sweden, (2)Rockland Scientific, Victoria, BC, Canada
 
Plumes or billows? Direct observations of turbulent overturning structures along spicy intrusion edges (2023660)
Leo Middleton, University of Gothenburg, Department of Marine Sciences, Gothenburg, Sweden, Nicole Couto, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, La Jolla, United States, Alejandra Sanchez-Rios, IONTU Institute of Oceanography National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan; University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, United States, Jennifer McKinnon, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, United States and J. Thomas Farrar, Woods Hole Oceanographic Inst, Physical Oceanography, Woods Hole, United States
 
Tracking Historical Changes in Southern Ocean Ventilation Age using Heave-Spice Decomposition (2023749)
Scott Mannis and Darryn Waugh, Johns Hopkins University, Earth and Planetary Sciences, Baltimore, MD, United States
 
Isopycnal stirring and eddy advection in the eastern tropical Pacific (2030209)
Parth Sastry1, Amit Tandon2 and Mark A Altabet2, (1)University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, Engineering and Applied Science, North Dartmouth, United States, (2)University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, School for Marine Science and Technology, New Bedford, United States
 
Spice rules the mix: how density-compensated T–S variability controls turbulent diapycnal mixing (2033645)
Remi Tailleux, University of Reading, Reading, RG6, United Kingdom
 
Variability of Warming at the Mixed layer base in the Subtropical South Indian ocean Salinity Maxima region (2038955)
Madhu Kaundal, Centre for Ocean, River Atmosphere and Land Sciences (CORAL), IIT Kharagpur, 721302, India, Climate Variability and Prediction, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Pune, 411008, India., Pune, India and 1,2Madhu Kaundal, 3Nadimpalli Jithendra Raju, 4Abhishek Savita, 1Mihir Kumar Dash, 1Centre for Ocean, River Atmosphere and Land Sciences (CORAL), IIT Kharagpur, 721302, India 2Climate Variability and Prediction, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, M
 
Interannual Variability in the Presence and Strength of Secondary Acoustic Ducts on the U.S. Pacific Northwest Shelf (2039582)
John Mickett, Ramsey R Harcourt, Guangyu Xu, Brian Todd Hefner, Dajun Tang and Kumar Ravi Prakash, Applied Physics Laboratory University of Washington, Seattle, United States
 
Water Mass Transformation and Buoyancy Fluxes in the Cape Basin (2040890)
Rachel Sampson, University of Miami, Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Sciences, Miami, United States, Lisa M Beal, University of Miami, Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science, Miami, FL, United States and Guillaume Novelli, University of Miami, Ocean Science, Miami, United States
 
The turbulent evolution of spice in an island wake vorticity field (2041074)
Louis St Laurent, Applied Physics Laboratory University of Washington, Seattle, WA, United States, Patricia Kassis, Applied Physics Laboratory University of Washington, OPD, Seattle, United States, Shawn Albertson, Applied Physics Laboratory University of Washington, Seattle, United States, Harper L. Simmons, University of Washington, Seattle, United States and Patricia Kassis
 
Nearshore-Offshore Contrasts in Spice Variability along Line P (2044215)
Lauryn Talbot, University of Victoria, School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, Victoria, Canada, Jody M Klymak, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada, Tetjana Ross, Dalhousie Univ, Halifax, NS, Canada and Guoqi Han, Institute of Ocean Sciences, Sidney, BC, Canada
 
Microstructure Temperature Observations in the Arctic Ocean: Missing Batchelor Spectra and Implications for Mixing (2045421)
Elizabeth Fine1, Aurelie J Moulin2, Amy Frances Waterhouse1 and Jonathan D Nash3, (1)Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, United States, (2)Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Washington, Seattle, United States, (3)Oregon State University, College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, Corvallis, OR, United States
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