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    The prediction, verification, and significance of flank jets at mid-ocean ridges

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    Date
    2012-03
    Author
    Lavelle, J. William  Concept link
    Thurnherr, Andreas M.  Concept link
    Mullineaux, Lauren S.  Concept link
    McGillicuddy, Dennis J.  Concept link
    Ledwell, James R.  Concept link
    Metadata
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    Citable URI
    https://hdl.handle.net/1912/5167
    As published
    https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2012.26
    DOI
    10.5670/oceanog.2012.26
    Abstract
    One aspect of ocean flow over mid-ocean ridges that has escaped much attention is the capacity of a ridge to convert oscillatory flows into unidirectional flows. Those unidirectional flows take the form of relatively narrow jets hugging the ridge's flanks. In the Northern Hemisphere, the jets move heat and dissolved and particulate matter poleward on the west and equatorward on the east of north-south trending ridges. Recent measurements and a model of flow at the East Pacific Rise at 9–10°N show that these ridge-parallel flows can extend 10–15 km horizontally away from the ridge axis, reach from the seafloor to several hundreds of meters above ridge crest depth, and have maximum speeds in their cores up to 10 cm s–1. Because of their along-ridge orientation and speed, the jets can significantly affect the transport of hydrothermal vent-associated larvae between vent oases along the ridge crest and, possibly, contribute to the mesoscale stirring of the abyssal ocean. Because jet-formation mechanisms involve oscillatory currents, ocean stratification, and topography, the jets are examples of "stratified topographic flow rectification." Ridge jets have parallels in rectified flows at seamounts and submarine banks.
    Description
    Author Posting. © The Oceanography Society, 2012. This article is posted here by permission of The Oceanography Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Oceanography 25, no. 1 (2012): 277–283, doi:10.5670/oceanog.2012.26.
    Collections
    • Biology
    • Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering (AOP&E)
    Suggested Citation
    Article: Lavelle, J. William, Thurnherr, Andreas M., Mullineaux, Lauren S., McGillicuddy, Dennis J., Ledwell, James R., "The prediction, verification, and significance of flank jets at mid-ocean ridges", Oceanography 25, no. 1 (2012): 277–283, DOI:10.5670/oceanog.2012.26, https://hdl.handle.net/1912/5167
     
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