Formation of Intrathermocline Lenses by Eddy–Wind Interaction

Abstract

esoscale intrathermocline lenses are observed throughout the World Ocean and are commonly attributed to water mass anomalies advected from a distant origin. An alternative mechanism of local generation is offered herein, in which eddy?wind interaction can create lens-shaped disturbances in the thermocline. Numerical simulations illustrate how eddy?wind-driven upwelling in anticyclones can yield a convex lens reminiscent of a mode water eddy, whereas eddy?wind-driven downwelling in cyclones produces a concave lens that thins the mode water layer (a cyclonic ?thinny?). Such transformations should be observable with long-term time series in the interiors of mesoscale eddies.