Hawaii Ocean Mixing Experiment: Nearfield Program: Abyssal Mixing

Oregon State University, Corvallis OR

Investigators

Abstract

9819531 Moum Funding is provided to conduct a large coordinated experiment (HOME: Hawaiian Ocean Mixing Experiment) near the Hawaiian Ridge to determine whether sites with rough topography are responsible for the mixing of the global ocean. The goals are to identify the major energy pathways for ocean mixing and achieve an approximate energy budget for the region. The Near-field experiment of the HOME project focuses on the investigation of the dynamical processes in the immediate vicinity of the Hawaiian Ridge, and especially the response to barotropic tidal forcing including generation of low- and high-mode internal waves, propagation and turbulent dissipation and mixing. This sub-project will focus on relating the local turbulence and shear across the ridgetop to the temporal variability of the tidally-induced shear and strain determined by the fixed point observations from the research platform FLIP and current meter moorings. A deep towed body (Marlin) and a vertical microstructure profiler (Chameleon) will be deployed during spring and neap tides. Some observations will also be conducted south of the Ridge to depth of 3000 m in order to establish the spatial variability of high dissipation rates observed by other HOME investigators.