Radiation and Dissipation of Internal Waves Generated by Geostrophic Motions Impinging on Small-Scale Topography: Application to the Southern Ocean

Abstract

Recent estimates from observations and inverse models indicate that turbulent mixing associated with internal wave breaking is enhanced above rough topography in the Southern Ocean. In most regions of the ocean, abyssal mixing has been primarily associated with radiation and breaking of internal tides. In this study, it is shown that abyssal mixing in the Southern Ocean can be sustained by internal waves generated by geostrophic motions that dominate abyssal flows in this region. Theory and fully nonlinear numerical simulations are used to estimate the internal wave radiation and dissipation from lowered acoustic Doppler current profiler (LADCP), CTD, and topography data from two regions in the Southern Ocean: Drake Passage and the southeast Pacific. The results show that radiation and dissipation of internal waves generated by geostrophic motions reproduce the magnitude and distribution of dissipation previously inferred from finescale measurements in the region, suggesting that it is one of the primary drivers of abyssal mixing in the Southern Ocean.