Designing a model of turbulent dissipation by internal wave breaking

Abstract

In some regions of the ocean, massive internal waves travel vertically through the water column. Buoyed by strong temperature and pressure gradients, the waves—which can be hundreds of meters tall—carry cold, deep water up toward the surface. The slow‐moving waves are a major component of ocean turbulence, and their existence drives a large‐scale redistribution of salt, energy, heat, and nutrients. When one of these oceanic internal waves breaks, however, the dissipation of turbulent energy diminishes ocean stratification, mitigating further mixing.