Abstract
AbstractBecause of its pronounced fresh signature, the properties of the northward‐flowing Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW) affect the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. Hence, understanding modifications of AAIW along its path is important. Here, we analyze AAIW changes along its path in the Caribbean Sea and assess whether vertical fluxes from background turbulence and from double‐diffusive mixing in thermohaline staircases can explain these variations. We deduce the occurrence rate of staircases (7%) and estimate the flux ratio from Argo float profiles. In combination with vertical fluxes from background turbulence, these values are used in a steady‐state advection‐diffusion model to estimate the effective diffusivity of salt that arises from double diffusion . This value for is similar to observed values (Schmitt, 2005, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1108678), implying the observed modification of AAIW in the Caribbean Sea may be attributable primarily to vertical mixing in the region itself.
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