Contrasting lateral stirring regimes along line P modulated by intermittent mesoscale eddies
| dc.contributor.author | Talbot, Lauryn | |
| dc.contributor.supervisor | Klymak, Jody Michael | |
| dc.contributor.supervisor | Ross, Tetjana | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2025-07-22T21:19:06Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2025-07-22T21:19:06Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2025 | |
| dc.degree.department | School of Earth and Ocean Sciences | |
| dc.degree.level | Master of Science MSc | |
| dc.description.abstract | Lateral stirring is a key process shaping the physical and biogeochemical state of the ocean, yet it remains under-sampled and poorly understood, particularly at submesoscales (1–100 km). Along Line P in the Northeast Pacific, lateral stirring was characterized using 15 glider transects at 3 km horizontal resolution, collected from September 2019 to December 2024. Normalized isopycnal temperature anomalies, $\theta^{*}$, equivalent to normalized spice anomalies, reveal significant spatial and temporal variability in lateral variance across meso- and submesoscale ranges. Nearshore tracer spectra follow a power-law slope of $k^{0.2}$, with more high wavenumber variance than many previously reported values, but less than predicted by Surface Quasi-Geostrophy (SQG). Offshore, tracer spectra vary with eddy activity: slopes follow $k^0$ during active periods and $k^{1/3}$ during quieter phases, consistent with Kolmogorov scaling. Large-scale temporal changes are also evident, marked by shifts in water mass structure and temperature range, though the driving mechanisms remain uncertain. To contextualize these observations, a regional model is analyzed. Simulation-derived temperature variability diverges from glider observations across multiple spatial scales, including the mesoscale (e.g., eddies), and submesoscale (<80 km). These discrepancies suggest deficiencies in the model’s physical representation and parameterizations of lateral stirring. | |
| dc.description.scholarlevel | Graduate | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/1828/22491 | |
| dc.language | English | eng |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.rights | Available to the World Wide Web | |
| dc.subject | Turbulence | |
| dc.subject | Oceanography | |
| dc.subject | Lateral stirring | |
| dc.subject | Ocean gliders | |
| dc.subject | Model comparison | |
| dc.title | Contrasting lateral stirring regimes along line P modulated by intermittent mesoscale eddies | |
| dc.type | Thesis |