Part 1: Dynamics of eddying abyssal mixing layers over sloping rough topography
This paper uses a hierarchy of idealized models, from approximate analytical solutions in terms of elementary functions to non-linear simulations requiring high performance computers, to understand how small-scale turbulence mixing can drive strong flows along gently sloping ocean topography such as Mid-Atlantic Ridges.
![](https://faculty.sites.uci.edu/drakelab/files/2023/01/Screenshot-2023-01-10-at-3.36.39-PM-1024x520.png)
By adding in the complexity of the real ocean one step at a time, we can understand how several individual processes combine to produce the complicated patterns we observe in reality.
![](https://faculty.sites.uci.edu/drakelab/files/2023/01/Screenshot-2023-01-10-at-3.39.43-PM-1024x358.png)
Part 2: Diapycnal displacement, diffusion, and dispersion of tracers in the ocean
This paper presents a new theoretical framework for exactly comparing in-situ estimates of ocean mixing rates with bulk rates inferred from the spreading of an injected tracer, which improves upon previous approximate methods that assume a direct relationship between diffusion and dispersion.
![](https://faculty.sites.uci.edu/drakelab/files/2023/01/Screenshot-2023-01-10-at-3.26.49-PM-1024x421.png)
We use high-resolution quasi-realistic simulations to generate synthetic observations that demonstrate, at least as a proof-of-concept, that the new method provides less ambiguous estimates of ocean mixing.
![](https://faculty.sites.uci.edu/drakelab/files/2023/01/Screenshot-2023-01-10-at-3.33.24-PM-1024x477.png)