Abstract
The Ruddick and Turner (1979, Deep-Sea Research, 26, 903–913) mechanism for double-diffusive interleaving at lateral thermoclinic fronts is examined on the S-0 diagram, revealing that for the oceanographically relevant pair of properties (heat-salt rather than salt-sugar), an alternating series of diffusive and finger interfaces does not form, but rather each interface is a fingering interface. Since active oceanic intrusions do exhibit regions of diffusive stratification between the salt fingering regions, it is concluded that they must have their origins in ‘smooth’ thermoclinic fronts, that is, fronts that are significantly wider than the height of an intrusion. This has direct implications for the way in which the diapycnal fluxes associated with double-diffusive interleaving are parameterized in ocean models.
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