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Volume 39 Issue 11
Dec.  2020
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Article Navigation >  Acta Oceanologica Sinica  > 2020  >  39(11): 69-81
Yongfeng Qi, Chenjing Shang, Huabin Mao, Chunhua Qiu, Changrong Liang, Linghui Yu, Jiancheng Yu, Xiaodong Shang. Spatial structure of turbulent mixing of an anticyclonic mesoscale eddy in the northern South China Sea[J]. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 2020, 39(11): 69-81. doi: 10.1007/s13131-020-1676-z
Citation: Yongfeng Qi, Chenjing Shang, Huabin Mao, Chunhua Qiu, Changrong Liang, Linghui Yu, Jiancheng Yu, Xiaodong Shang. Spatial structure of turbulent mixing of an anticyclonic mesoscale eddy in the northern South China Sea[J]. Acta Oceanologica Sinica, 2020, 39(11): 69-81. doi: 10.1007/s13131-020-1676-z
shu

Spatial structure of turbulent mixing of an anticyclonic mesoscale eddy in the northern South China Sea

doi: 10.1007/s13131-020-1676-z
  • 1.

    State Key Laboratory of Tropical Oceanography, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510301, China

  • 2.

    Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Marine Bioresources and Eco-environmental Science, College of Life Science and Oceanography, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen 518060, China

  • 3.

    Ocean College, Zhejiang University, Zhoushan 316021, China

  • 4.

    The Center for Coastal Ocean Science and Technology, School of Marine Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China

  • 5.

    State Key Laboratory of Robotics, Shenyang Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China

Funds:  The National Key R&D Plan of China under contract Nos 2017YFC0305904, 2017YFC0305804 and 2016YFC1401404; the National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract Nos 41876023, 41630970, 41806037, 41706137 and 41806033; the Guangdong Science and Technology Project under contract Nos 2019A1515111044, 2018A0303130047 and 2017A030310332; the Guangzhou Science and Technology Project under contract No. 201707020037; the Natural Science Foundation of Shenzhen University under contract No. 2019078; the Dedicated Fund for Promoting High-quality Economic Development in Guangdong Province (Marine Economic Development Project) under contract No. GDOE[2019]A03; the Independent Research Project Program of State Key Laboratory of Tropical Oceanography under contract Nos LTOZZ1902 and LTO1909.
More Information
  • Corresponding author: E-mail: maohuabin@scsio.ac.cn
  • Received Date: 2020-06-23
  • Accepted Date: 2020-08-10
    • Available Online: 2020-12-28
  • Publish Date: 2020-11-25
    Abstract
  • Upper turbulent mixing in the interior and surrounding areas of an anticyclonic eddy in the northern South China Sea (SCS) was estimated from underwater glider data (May 2015) in the present study, using the Gregg-Henyey-Polzin parameterization and the Thorpe-scale method. The observations revealed a clear asymmetrical spatial pattern of turbulent mixing in the anticyclonic eddy area. Enhanced diffusivity (in the order of 10–3 m2/s) was found at the posterior edge of the anticyclonic mesoscale eddy; on the anterior side, diffusivity was one order of magnitude lower on average. This asymmetrical pattern was highly correlated with the eddy kinetic energy. Higher shear variance on the posterior side, which is conducive to the triggering of shear instability, may be the main mechanism for the elevated diffusivity. In addition, the generation and growth of sub-mesoscale motions that are fed by mesoscale eddies on their posterior side may also promote the occurrence of strong mixing in the studied region. The results of this study help improve our knowledge regarding turbulent mixing in the northern SCS.
    • †These authors contributed equally to this works.
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