Toole John M.

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Toole

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John M.

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0000-0003-2905-0637

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Vertical kinetic energy and turbulent dissipation in the ocean

(John Wiley & Sons, 2015-09-21) Thurnherr, Andreas M. ; Kunze, Eric ; Toole, John M. ; St. Laurent, Louis C. ; Richards, Kelvin J. ; Ruiz-Angulo, Angel

Oceanic internal waves are closely linked to turbulence. Here a relationship between vertical wave number (kz) spectra of fine-scale vertical kinetic energy (VKE) and turbulent dissipation ε is presented using more than 250 joint profiles from five diverse dynamic regimes, spanning latitudes between the equator and 60°. In the majority of the spectra VKE varies as inline image. Scaling VKE with inline image collapses the off-equatorial spectra to within inline image but underestimates the equatorial spectrum. The simple empirical relationship between VKE and ε fits the data better than a common shear-and-strain fine-scale parameterization, which significantly underestimates ε in the two data sets that are least consistent with the Garrett-Munk (GM) model. The new relationship between fine-scale VKE and dissipation rate can be interpreted as an alternative, single-parameter scaling for turbulent dissipation in terms of fine-scale internal wave vertical velocity that requires no reference to the GM model spectrum.
Hydrographic observations from the US/PRC Cooperative Program in the Western Equatorial Pacific Ocean, cruises 5-8

(Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 1991-07) Lake, B. J. ; Yang, K. ; Luizhi, Z. ; Millard, Robert C. ; Pu, S. ; Toole, John M. ; Wang, Z. ; Mangum, Linda J.

In support of the Tropical Ocean and Global Atmosphere (TOGA) program, investigators from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL), and the State Oceanic Administration (SOA) from both Qingdao (First Institute) and Guangzhou (South China Sea Branch) conducted hydrographic observations aboard the Chinese R/V Xiang Yang Hong 14 in the western equatorial Pacific Ocean. The objective of this component of the TOGA program was to document the water mass property distributions of the western equatorial Pacific and describe the oceanic velocity field. The four cruises summarized here were conducted during the period November 1988 to July 1990 and are the final half of an eight cruise repeated survey of the region begun in 1985. Conductivity-Temperature-Depth-Oxygen (CTD/O2) stations were collected to a minimum cast depth of 2500m or the bottom when shallower. The cruises reoccupied the same stations to provide temporal information. Summarized listings of CTD/02 data together with selected physical properties of sea water for these cruises are provided here, as well as a description of the hardware used and an explanation of the data reduction techniques employed.
Fine- and microstructure observations at Fieberling Guyot : R/V New Horizon cruise report

(Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 1993-11) Montgomery, Ellyn T. ; Toole, John M.

This report describes fine- and microstructure profile data taken on a cruise to Fieberling Guyot, a seamount in the northeast subtropical Pacific Ocean. The work performed at sea, instruments used, data return and processing procedures will be summarized here. This cruise took place between March 4 and March 28, 1991 on the R/V New Horizon. and was part of the interdisciplinary Accelerated Research Initiative (ARI) for Abrupt Topography sponsored by the Office of Naval Research. An overall goal of the ARI was to understand the physical, biological, and geological processes occurring near a seamount. The scientific objective of the Seamount Mixing Cruise was to collect data describing the oceanic fine-scale velocity and density fields, as well as the related turbulence and mixing in the vicinity of the seamount. The High Resolution Profiler (HRP) was deployed 95 times above and around the seamount. As well, two test dives were conducted on the way to the site, and eight deployments completed in deep basdins off the southern California coast before returning to port. The near-synoptic surveys of the seamount were completed with the deployment of 128 Expendable Current Profilers (XCP's). The temperature field of the upper 760 meters of water within a 50 kilometer radius of the seamount was mapped using 144 Expendable Bathythermographs (XBT's).
Evidence for the maintenance of slowly varying equatorial currents by intraseasonal variability

(John Wiley & Sons, 2018-02-09) Greatbatch, Richard J. ; Claus, Martin ; Brandt, Peter ; Matthießen, Jan-Dirk ; Tuchen, Franz Philip ; Ascani, Francois ; Dengler, Marcus ; Toole, John M. ; Roth, Christina ; Farrar, J. Thomas

Recent evidence from mooring data in the equatorial Atlantic reveals that semiannual and longer time scale ocean current variability is close to being resonant with equatorial basin modes. Here we show that intraseasonal variability, with time scales of tens of days, provides the energy to maintain these resonant basin modes against dissipation. The mechanism is analogous to that by which storm systems in the atmosphere act to maintain the atmospheric jet stream. We demonstrate the mechanism using an idealized model setup that exhibits equatorial deep jets. The results are supported by direct analysis of available mooring data from the equatorial Atlantic Ocean covering a depth range of several thousand meters. The analysis of the mooring data suggests that the same mechanism also helps maintain the seasonal variability.
Sea surface pCO2 and O2 dynamics in the partially ice-covered Arctic Ocean

(John Wiley & Sons, 2017-02-25) Islam, Fakhrul ; DeGrandpre, Michael D. ; Beatty, Cory ; Timmermans, Mary-Louise ; Krishfield, Richard A. ; Toole, John M. ; Laney, Samuel R.

Understanding the physical and biogeochemical processes that control CO2 and dissolved oxygen (DO) dynamics in the Arctic Ocean (AO) is crucial for predicting future air-sea CO2 fluxes and ocean acidification. Past studies have primarily been conducted on the AO continental shelves during low-ice periods and we lack information on gas dynamics in the deep AO basins where ice typically inhibits contact with the atmosphere. To study these gas dynamics, in situ time-series data have been collected in the Canada Basin during late summer to autumn of 2012. Partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2), DO concentration, temperature, salinity, and chlorophyll-a fluorescence (Chl-a) were measured in the upper ocean in a range of sea ice states by two drifting instrument systems. Although the two systems were on average only 222 km apart, they experienced considerably different ice cover and external forcings during the 40–50 day periods when data were collected. The pCO2 levels at both locations were well below atmospheric saturation whereas DO was almost always slightly supersaturated. Modeling results suggest that air-sea gas exchange, net community production (NCP), and horizontal gradients were the main sources of pCO2 and DO variability in the sparsely ice-covered AO. In areas more densely covered by sea ice, horizontal gradients were the dominant source of variability, with no significant NCP in the surface mixed layer. If the AO reaches equilibrium with atmospheric CO2 as ice cover continues to decrease, aragonite saturation will drop from a present mean of 1.00 ± 0.02 to 0.86 ± 0.01.
Evolution of a Canada Basin ice-ocean boundary layer and mixed layer across a developing thermodynamically forced marginal ice zone

(John Wiley & Sons, 2016-08-22) Gallaher, Shawn G. ; Stanton, Timothy P. ; Shaw, William J. ; Cole, Sylvia T. ; Toole, John M. ; Wilkinson, Jeremy P. ; Maksym, Ted ; Hwang, Byongjun

A comprehensive set of autonomous, ice-ocean measurements were collected across the Canada Basin to study the summer evolution of the ice-ocean boundary layer (IOBL) and ocean mixed layer (OML). Evaluation of local heat and freshwater balances and associated turbulent forcing reveals that melt ponds (MPs) strongly influence the summer IOBL-OML evolution. Areal expansion of MPs in mid-June start the upper ocean evolution resulting in significant increases to ocean absorbed radiative flux (19 W m−2 in this study). Buoyancy provided by MP drainage shoals and freshens the IOBL resulting in a 39 MJ m−2 increase in heat storage in just 19 days (52% of the summer total). Following MP drainage, a near-surface fresh layer deepens through shear-forced mixing to form the summer mixed layer (sML). In late summer, basal melt increases due to stronger turbulent mixing in the thin sML and the expansion of open water areas due in part to wind-forced divergence of the sea ice. Thermal heterogeneities in the marginal ice zone (MIZ) upper ocean led to large ocean-to-ice heat fluxes (100–200 W m−2) and enhanced basal ice melt (3–6 cm d−1), well away from the ice edge. Calculation of the upper ocean heat budget shows that local radiative heat input accounted for at least 89% of the observed latent heat losses and heat storage (partitioned 0.77/0.23). These results suggest that the extensive area of deteriorating sea ice observed away from the ice edge during the 2014 season, termed the “thermodynamically forced MIZ,” was driven primarily by local shortwave radiative forcing.
Moored observations of the Deep Western Boundary Current in the NW Atlantic: 2004–2014

(John Wiley & Sons, 2017-09-15) Toole, John M. ; Andres, Magdalena ; Le Bras, Isabela A. ; Joyce, Terrence M. ; McCartney, Michael S.

A moored array spanning the continental slope southeast of Cape Cod sampled the equatorward-flowing Deep Western Boundary Current (DWBC) for a 10 year period: May 2004 to May 2014. Daily profiles of subinertial velocity, temperature, salinity, and neutral density are constructed for each mooring site and cross-line DWBC transport time series are derived for specified water mass layers. Time-averaged transports based on daily estimates of the flow and density fields in Stream coordinates are contrasted with those derived from the Eulerian-mean flow field, modes of DWBC transport variability are investigated through compositing, and comparisons are made to transport estimates for other latitudes. Integrating the daily velocity estimates over the neutral density range of 27.8–28.125 kg/m3 (encompassing Labrador Sea and Overflow Water layers), a mean equatorward DWBC transport of 22.8 × 106 ± 1.9 × 106 m3/s is obtained. Notably, a statistically significant trend of decreasing equatorward transport is observed in several of the DWBC components as well as the current as a whole. The largest linear change (a 4% decrease per year) is seen in the layer of Labrador Sea Water that was renewed by deep convection in the early 1990s whose transport fell from 9.0 × 106 m3/s at the beginning of the field program to 5.8 × 106 m3/s at its end. The corresponding linear fit to the combined Labrador Sea and Overflow Water DWBC transport decreases from 26.4 × 106 to 19.1 × 106 m3/s. In contrast, no long-term trend is observed in upper ocean Slope Water transport. These trends are discussed in the context of decadal observations of the North Atlantic circulation, and subpolar air-sea interaction/water mass transformation.
Design and operation of automated ice-tethered profilers for real-time seawater observations in the polar oceans

(Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 2006-06) Krishfield, Richard A. ; Doherty, Kenneth W. ; Frye, Daniel E. ; Hammar, Terence R. ; Kemp, John N. ; Peters, Donald B. ; Proshutinsky, Andrey ; Toole, John M. ; von der Heydt, Keith

An automated, easily-deployed Ice-Tethered Profiler (ITP) has been developed for deployment on perennial sea ice in polar oceans to measure changes in upper ocean temperature and salinity in all seasons. The ITP system consists of three components: a surface instrument that sits atop an ice floe, a weighted, plastic-jacketed wire-rope tether of arbitrary length (up to 800 m) suspended from the surface instrument, and an instrumented underwater unit that profiles up and down the wire tether. The profiling underwater unit is similar in shape and dimension to an ARGO float except that the float's variable-buoyancy system is replaced with a traction drive unit. Deployment of ITPs may be conducted either from ice caps or icebreakers, utilizing a self contained tripod/winch system that requires no power. Careful selection of an appropriate multiyear ice floe is needed to prolong the lifetime of the system (up to 3 years depending on the profiling schedule). Shortly after deployment, each ITP begins profiling the water column at its programmed sampling interval. After each acquired temperature and salinity profile, the underwater unit (PROCON) transfers the data and engineering files using an inductive modem to the surface controller (SURFCON). SURFCON also accumulates battery voltages, buoy temperature, and locations from GPS at specified intervals in status files, and queues that information for transmission at the start of each new day. At frequent intervals, an Iridium satellite transceiver in the surface package calls and transmits queued status and CTD data files onto a WHOI logger computer, which are subsequently processed and displayed in near-real time at http://www.whoi.edu/itp. In 2004 and 2005, three ITP prototypes were deployed in the Arctic Ocean. Each system was programmed with accelerated sampling schedules of multiple one-way traverses per day between 10 and 750-760 m depth in order to quickly evaluate endurance and component fatigue. Two of the ITPs are continuing to function after more than 10 months and 1200 profiles. Larger motor currents are observed at times of fast ice floe motion when larger wire angles develop and drag forces on the profiler are increased. The CTD profile data so far obtained document interesting spatial variations in the major water masses of the Beaufort Gyre, show the double-diffusive thermohaline staircase that lies above the warm, salty Atlantic layer, and many mesoscale eddys. Deployed together with CRREL Ice Mass Balance (IMB) buoys, these ITP systems also operate as part of an Ice Based Observatory (IBO). Data returned from an array of IBOs within an Arctic Observing Network will provide valuable real time observations, support studies of ocean processes, and facilitate numerical model initialization and validation.
Evaluating salt-fingering theories

(Sears Foundation for Marine Research, 2008-07) Inoue, R. ; Kunze, Eric ; St. Laurent, Louis C. ; Schmitt, Raymond W. ; Toole, John M.

The NATRE fine- and microstructure data set is revisited to test salt-finger amplitude theories. Dependences of the mixing efficiency Γ, microscale buoyancy Reynolds number Re and thermal Cox number CxT on 5-m density ratio Rρ and gradient Richardson number Ri are examined. The observed mixing efficiency is too high to be explained by linear fastest-growing fingers but can be reproduced by wavenumbers 0.5-0.9 times lower than the fastest-growing wavenumber. Constraining these fingers with a hybrid wave/finger Froude number or a finger Reynolds number cannot reproduce the observed trends with Rρ or Ri, respectively. This suggests that background shear has no influence on finger amplitudes. Constraining average amplitudes of these lower-wavenumber fingers with finger Richardson number Rif ~ 0.2 reproduces the observed dependence of Re and CxT on density ratio Rρ and Ri at all but the lowest observed density ratio (Rρ = 1.3). Separately relaxing the assumptions of viscous control, dominance of a single mode and tall narrow fingers does not explain the difference between theory and data at low Rρ for a critical Rif ~ 0.2.
Diapycnal mixing in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current

(American Meteorological Society, 2011-01) Ledwell, James R. ; St. Laurent, Louis C. ; Girton, James B. ; Toole, John M.

The vertical dispersion of a tracer released on a density surface near 1500-m depth in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current west of Drake Passage indicates that the diapycnal diffusivity, averaged over 1 yr and over tens of thousands of square kilometers, is (1.3 ± 0.2) × 10−5 m2 s−1. Diapycnal diffusivity estimated from turbulent kinetic energy dissipation measurements about the area occupied by the tracer in austral summer 2010 was somewhat less, but still within a factor of 2, at (0.75 ± 0.07) × 10−5 m2 s−1. Turbulent diapycnal mixing of this intensity is characteristic of the midlatitude ocean interior, where the energy for mixing is believed to derive from internal wave breaking. Indeed, despite the frequent and intense atmospheric forcing experienced by the Southern Ocean, the amplitude of finescale velocity shear sampled about the tracer was similar to background amplitudes in the midlatitude ocean, with levels elevated to only 20%–50% above the Garrett–Munk reference spectrum. These results add to a long line of evidence that diapycnal mixing in the interior middepth ocean is weak and is likely too small to dictate the middepth meridional overturning circulation of the ocean.
A barotropic vorticity budget for the subtropical North Atlantic based on observations

(American Meteorological Society, 2019-10-17) Le Bras, Isabela A. ; Sonnewald, Maike ; Toole, John M.

To ground truth the large-scale dynamical balance of the North Atlantic subtropical gyre with observations, a barotropic vorticity budget is constructed in the ECCO state estimate and compared with hydrographic observations and wind stress data products. The hydrographic dataset at the center of this work is the A22 WOCE section, which lies along 66°W and creates a closed volume with the North and South American coasts to its west. The planetary vorticity flux across A22 is quantified, providing a metric for the net meridional flow in the western subtropical gyre. The wind stress forcing over the subtropical gyre to the west and east of the A22 section is calculated from several wind stress data products. These observational budget terms are found to be consistent with an approximate barotropic Sverdrup balance in the eastern subtropical gyre and are on the same order as budget terms in the ECCO state estimate. The ECCO vorticity budget is closed by bottom pressure torques in the western subtropical gyre, which is consistent with previous studies. In sum, the analysis provides observational ground truth for the North Atlantic subtropical vorticity balance and explores the seasonal variability of this balance for the first time using the ECCO state estimate. This balance is found to hold on monthly time scales in ECCO, suggesting that the integrated subtropical gyre responds to forcing through fast barotropic adjustment.
The euphotic zone under Arctic Ocean sea ice : vertical extents and seasonal trends

(John Wiley & Sons, 2017-03-26) Laney, Samuel R. ; Krishfield, Richard A. ; Toole, John M.

Eight Ice-Tethered Profilers were deployed in the Arctic Ocean between 2011 and 2013 to measure vertical distributions of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and other bio-optical properties in ice-covered water columns, multiple times a day over periods of up to a year. With the radiometers used on these profilers, PAR could be measured to depths of only ∼20–40 m in the central Arctic in late summer under sea ice ∼1 m thick. At lower latitudes in the Beaufort Gyre, late summer PAR was measurable under ice to depths exceeding 125 m. The maximum depths of measurable PAR followed seasonal trends in insolation, with isolumes shoaling in the fall as solar elevation decreased and deepening in spring and early summer after insolation resumed and sea ice diminished. PAR intensities were often anomalously low above 20 m, likely due to a shading effect associated with local horizontal heterogeneity in light transmittance by the overlying sea ice. A model was developed to parameterize these complex vertical PAR distributions to improve estimates of the water column diffuse attenuation coefficient and other related parameters. Such a model is necessary to separate the effect of surface ice heterogeneity on under-ice PAR profiles from that of the water column itself, so that euphotic zone depth in ice-covered water columns can be computed using canonical metrics such as the 1% light level. Water column diffuse attenuation coefficients derived from such autonomously-collected PAR profile data, using this model, agreed favorably with values determined manually in complementary studies.
The WOCE–era 3–D Pacific Ocean circulation and heat budget

( 2009-08-17) Macdonald, Alison M. ; Mecking, Sabine ; Toole, John M. ; Robbins, Paul E. ; Johnson, Gregory C. ; Wijffels, Susan E. ; Talley, Lynne D. ; Cook, Margaret F.

To address questions concerning the intensity and spatial structure of the 3–dimensional circulation within the Pacific Ocean and the associated advective and diffusive property flux divergences, data from approximately 3000 high–quality hydrographic stations collected on 40 zonal and meridional cruises have been merged into a physically consistent model. The majority of the stations were occupied as part of the World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE), which took place in the 1990s. These data are supplemented by a few pre–WOCE surveys of similar quality, and time–averaged direct–velocity and historical hydrographic measurements about the equator. An inverse box model formalism is employed to estimate the absolute along–isopycnal velocity field, the magnitude and spatial distribution of the associated diapycnal flow and the corresponding diapycnal advective and diffusive property flux divergences. The resulting large–scale WOCE Pacific circulation can be described as two shallow overturning cells at mid– to low latitudes, one in each hemisphere, and a single deep cell which brings abyssal waters from the Southern Ocean into the Pacific where they upwell across isopycnals and are returned south as deep waters. Upwelling is seen to occur throughout most of the basin with generally larger dianeutral transport and greater mixing occurring at depth. The derived pattern of ocean heat transport divergence is compared to published results based on air–sea flux estimates. The synthesis suggests a strongly east/west oriented pattern of air–sea heat flux with heat loss to the atmosphere throughout most of the western basins, and a gain of heat throughout the tropics extending poleward through the eastern basins. The calculated meridional heat transport agrees well with previous hydrographic estimates. Consistent with many of the climatologies at a variety of latitudes as well, our meridional heat transport estimates tend toward lower values in both hemispheres.
A trans-Indian Ocean hydrographic section at latitude 32°South : data report of RRS Charles Darwin cruise #29

(Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 1992-01) Cook, Margaret F. ; Toole, John M. ; Knapp, George P. ; Fine, Rana A. ; Top, Zafer ; Jennings, Joe C.

A trans-Indian Ocean hydrographic section employing CTD/O2 profilers was conducted between Africa and Australia during austral spring 1987. The cruise track ranged between 29°S and 34°S; the average latitude of the crossing was 32°S. The purpose of the cruise was to explore various aspects of the South Indian Ocean including the characteristics of the core water masses of this ocean, the strength of the subtropical gyre, the structure and transport of deep western-boundary currents, and the net meridional heat flux. A total of 109 CTD/O2 profiles with associated rosette water sample measurements and 347 XBT profiles were collected, supplemented by underway upper ocean velocity, bathymetric and sea surface temperature and salinity data. This report detals the data collection, calibration, and reduction methods, and summarizes the hydrographic observations.
The interaction of recirculation gyres and a deep boundary current

(American Meteorological Society, 2018-03-06) Le Bras, Isabela A. ; Jayne, Steven R. ; Toole, John M.

Motivated by the proximity of the Northern Recirculation Gyre and the deep western boundary current in the North Atlantic, an idealized model is used to investigate how recirculation gyres and a deep flow along a topographic slope interact. In this two-layer quasigeostrophic model, an unstable jet imposed in the upper layer generates barotropic recirculation gyres. These are maintained by an eddy-mean balance of potential vorticity (PV) in steady state. The authors show that the topographic slope can constrain the northern recirculation gyre meridionally and that the gyre’s adjustment to the slope leads to increased eddy PV fluxes at the base of the slope. When a deep current is present along the topographic slope in the lower layer, these eddy PV fluxes stir the deep current and recirculation gyre waters. Increased proximity to the slope dampens the eddy growth rate within the unstable jet, altering the geometry of recirculation gyre forcing and leading to a decrease in overall eddy PV fluxes. These mechanisms may shape the circulation in the western North Atlantic, with potential feedbacks on the climate system.
Influences of the ocean surface mixed layer and thermohaline stratification on Arctic Sea ice in the central Canada Basin

(American Geophysical Union, 2010-10-08) Toole, John M. ; Timmermans, Mary-Louise ; Perovich, Donald K. ; Krishfield, Richard A. ; Proshutinsky, Andrey ; Richter-Menge, Jackie A.

Variations in the Arctic central Canada Basin mixed layer properties are documented based on a subset of nearly 6500 temperature and salinity profiles acquired by Ice-Tethered Profilers during the period summer 2004 to summer 2009 and analyzed in conjunction with sea ice observations from ice mass balance buoys and atmosphere-ocean heat flux estimates. The July–August mean mixed layer depth based on the Ice-Tethered Profiler data averaged 16 m (an overestimate due to the Ice-Tethered Profiler sampling characteristics and present analysis procedures), while the average winter mixed layer depth was only 24 m, with individual observations rarely exceeding 40 m. Guidance interpreting the observations is provided by a 1-D ocean mixed layer model. The analysis focuses attention on the very strong density stratification at the base of the mixed layer in the Canada Basin that greatly impedes surface layer deepening and thus limits the flux of deep ocean heat to the surface that could influence sea ice growth/decay. The observations additionally suggest that efficient lateral mixed layer restratification processes are active in the Arctic, also impeding mixed layer deepening.
Recent wind-driven variability in Atlantic water mass distribution and meridional overturning circulation

(American Meteorological Society, 2017-03-17) Evans, Dafydd Gwyn ; Toole, John M. ; Forget, Gael ; Zika, Jan D. ; Naveira Garabato, Alberto C. ; Nurser, A. J. George ; Yu, Lisan

Interannual variability in the volumetric water mass distribution within the North Atlantic Subtropical Gyre is described in relation to variability in the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation. The relative roles of diabatic and adiabatic processes in the volume and heat budgets of the subtropical gyre are investigated by projecting data into temperature coordinates as volumes of water using an Argo-based climatology and an ocean state estimate (ECCO version 4). This highlights that variations in the subtropical gyre volume budget are predominantly set by transport divergence in the gyre. A strong correlation between the volume anomaly due to transport divergence and the variability of both thermocline depth and Ekman pumping over the gyre suggests that wind-driven heave drives transport anomalies at the gyre boundaries. This wind-driven heaving contributes significantly to variations in the heat content of the gyre, as do anomalies in the air–sea fluxes. The analysis presented suggests that wind forcing plays an important role in driving interannual variability in the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation and that this variability can be unraveled from spatially distributed hydrographic observations using the framework presented here.
Characterizing the eddy field in the Arctic Ocean halocline

(John Wiley & Sons, 2014-12-22) Zhao, Mengnan ; Timmermans, Mary-Louise ; Cole, Sylvia T. ; Krishfield, Richard A. ; Proshutinsky, Andrey ; Toole, John M.

Ice-Tethered Profilers (ITP), deployed in the Arctic Ocean between 2004 and 2013, have provided detailed temperature and salinity measurements of an assortment of halocline eddies. A total of 127 mesoscale eddies have been detected, 95% of which were anticyclones, the majority of which had anomalously cold cores. These cold-core anticyclonic eddies were observed in the Beaufort Gyre region (Canadian water eddies) and the vicinity of the Transpolar Drift Stream (Eurasian water eddies). An Arctic-wide calculation of the first baroclinic Rossby deformation radius Rd has been made using ITP data coupled with climatology; Rd ∼ 13 km in the Canadian water and ∼8 km in the Eurasian water. The observed eddies are found to have scales comparable to Rd. Halocline eddies are in cyclogeostrophic balance and can be described by a Rankine vortex with maximum azimuthal speeds between 0.05 and 0.4 m/s. The relationship between radius and thickness for the eddies is consistent with adjustment to the ambient stratification. Eddies may be divided into four groups, each characterized by distinct core depths and core temperature and salinity properties, suggesting multiple source regions and enabling speculation of varying formation mechanisms.
Eddies in the Canada Basin, Arctic Ocean, observed from ice-tethered profilers

(American Meteorological Society, 2008-01) Timmermans, Mary-Louise ; Toole, John M. ; Proshutinsky, Andrey ; Krishfield, Richard A. ; Plueddemann, Albert J.

Five ice-tethered profilers (ITPs), deployed between 2004 and 2006, have provided detailed potential temperature θ and salinity S profiles from 21 anticyclonic eddy encounters in the central Canada Basin of the Arctic Ocean. The 12–35-m-thick eddies have center depths between 42 and 69 m in the Arctic halocline, and are shallower and less dense than the majority of eddies observed previously in the central Canada Basin. They are characterized by anomalously cold θ and low stratification, and have horizontal scales on the order of, or less than, the Rossby radius of deformation (about 10 km). Maximum azimuthal speeds estimated from dynamic heights (assuming cyclogeostrophic balance) are between 9 and 26 cm s−1, an order of magnitude larger than typical ambient flow speeds in the central basin. Eddy θ–S and potential vorticity properties, as well as horizontal and vertical scales, are consistent with their formation by instability of a surface front at about 80°N that appears in historical CTD and expendable CTD (XCTD) measurements. This would suggest eddy lifetimes longer than 6 months. While the baroclinic instability of boundary currents cannot be ruled out as a generation mechanism, it is less likely since deeper eddies that would originate from the deeper-reaching boundary flows are not observed in the survey region.
Observations of the Antarctic polar front during FDRAKE 76 : a cruise report

(Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 1976-11) Joyce, Terrence M. ; Dean, Jerome P. ; McCartney, Michael S. ; Millard, Robert C. ; Moller, Donald A. ; Voorhis, A. ; Dahm, C. ; Georgi, Daniel T. ; Kullenberg, G. ; Toole, John M. ; Zenk, Walter

During March/April 1976 the small-scale structure of the Antarctic Polar Front was observed in the Drake Passage. The observations were part of the International Southern Ocean Studies (ISOS) program called FDRAke 76. The purpose of the program was to obtain densely sampled measurements of temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, and chemical nutrients in the Polar Front Zone (PFZ) and pilot measurements of horizontal and vertical velocities in order to explain the above scalar variability. The PFZ is a region where Antarctic and sub-Antarctic waters intermingle and presumably mix to affect the properties of Antarctic Intermediate Water. A report on the third leg of Cruise 107 of the R. V. THOMPSON is presented as well as a description of the measurements and a preliminary report of the data. A feature of interest is the pinching off of a northward meander of the circumpolar current system into a cyclonic ring of Antarctic Waters.

Toole John M.

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