TURBULENCE AND MIXING IN THE OCEAN

Without turbulence and the mixing it causes, we would not have the same ocean that we do now, nor indeed the same climate. Turbulent mixing brings nutrients into the surface layer from below so that plankton can grow. Turbulence near the surface, driven by surface winds and cooling, transmits heat in and out of the ocean to create the reservoir of heat that governs climate. It is turbulence that diffuses the permanent pycnocline separating the cold bottom waters of polar origin from the atmosphere‐connected upper ocean, either directly, or indirectly by local mixing followed by distribution along isopycnals (surfaces of constant density). Turbulence in the bottom layer affects the deposition, resuspension and movement of sediments. Turbulence creates micro‐environments for the small creatures that form the basis for life in the oceans. Copyright 1995 by the American Geophysical Union.