Cascades of dense water around the world ocean

Ivanov, Vladimir; Shapiro, Georgy; Huthnance, J. M.; Aleynik, Dmitry; Golovin, P. N.

doi:10.1016/j.pocean.2003.12.002

Cited by 271 publications

(252 citation statements)

References 77 publications

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“…Dense waters overflow off continental shelves (cascading) is one of the important processes contributing to shelf-deep ocean exchanges (see Ivanov et al [2004] and Durrieu de Madron et al [2005] for a review of this phenomenon). Those dense waters are formed by cooling and evaporation (or by freezing and salinization) on a shallow shelf which then spill over the shelf edge as intense near-bottom gravity currents.…”

Section: Cascading Eddiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scales and dynamics of Submesoscale Coherent Vortices formed by deep convection in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea

et al. 2016

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Since 2010, an intense effort in the collection of in situ observations has been carried out in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea thanks to gliders, profiling floats, regular cruises, and mooring lines. This integrated observing system enabled a year‐to‐year monitoring of the deep waters formation that occurred in the Gulf of Lions area during four consecutive winters (2010–2013). Vortical structures remnant of wintertime deep vertical mixing events were regularly sampled by the different observing platforms. These are Submesoscale Coherent Vortices (SCVs) characterized by a small radius (∼5–8 km), strong depth‐intensified orbital velocities (∼10–20 cm s−1) with often a weak surface signature, high Rossby (∼0.5) and Burger numbers O(0.5–1). Anticyclones transport convected waters resulting from intermediate (∼300 m) to deep (∼2000 m) vertical mixing. Cyclones are characterized by a 500–1000 m thick layer of weakly stratified deep waters (or bottom waters that cascaded from the shelf of the Gulf of Lions in 2012) extending down to the bottom of the ocean at ∼2500 m. The formation of cyclonic eddies seems to be favored by bottom‐reaching convection occurring during the study period or cascading events reaching the abyssal plain. We confirm the prominent role of anticyclonic SCVs and shed light on the important role of cyclonic SCVs in the spreading of a significant amount (∼30%) of the newly formed deep waters away from the winter mixing areas. Since they can survive until the following winter, they can potentially have a great impact on the mixed layer deepening through a local preconditioning effect.

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Section: Cascading Eddiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scales and dynamics of Submesoscale Coherent Vortices formed by deep convection in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea

et al. 2016

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“…1), and time series of observed and modeled dense water properties were constructed. Although the observations are from late summer, they have signatures of dense water produced during the previous winter because remnants are trapped on the shelves over summer (Midttun, 1985;Ivanov et al, 2004). Using theory and observations to investigate cascading events Shapiro et al (2003) found that the estimated time for a dense water body to sink from the Novaya Zemlya Bank would be 7 months, and the later stages of winter cascading can therefore be observed the following summer.…”

Section: Dense Water Characteristicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dense water formation and circulation in the Barents Sea

Årthun

Ingvaldsen

Smedsrud

et al. 2011

Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers

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Dense water masses from Arctic shelf seas are an important part of the Arctic thermohaline system. We present previously unpublished observations from shallow banks in the Barents Sea, which reveal large interannual variability in dense water temperature and salinity. To examine the formation and circulation of dense water, and the processes governing interannual variability, a regional coupled ice-ocean model is applied to the Barents

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“…The strong winds cool the surface water that become denser than the surrounding waters and sink. The cold waters transit across the shelf and are transferred deeper through submarine canyons until they reach their buoyancy equilibrium (Durrieu de Madron et al, 2005;Ivanov et al, 2004). This process called shelf water cascading mainly occurs during winter time.…”

Section: Meteorological Forcingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, such canyons are presumed to be inactive. However, in such environments, several studies documented the transport of sand and fine-grained material at the shelf edge and into submarine canyons by hydrodynamic or climatic forcing (Durrieu de Madron et al, 2005;Frignani et al, 2002;Ivanov et al, 2004;Kenyon, 1986).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Massive sand beds attributed to deposition by dense water cascades in the Bourcart canyon head, Gulf of Lions (northwestern Mediterranean Sea)

et al. 2006

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International audienceNowadays, the Gulf of Lions continental shelf and slope are under the influence of dense water cascading, wind-induced bottom currents and the geostrophic Northern Current. In order to characterize sedimentary activity at the shelf break, several interface and piston cores were taken in the Bourcart canyon head and a current meter equipped with temperature, conductivity, pressure and turbidity sensors was moored during the 2003–2004 winter season. Even if the canyon is not connected directly to continental sources since Last Glacial Maximum, detailed grain size, X-ray and sediment facies analysis of interface cores show that down to 350 m water depth, the canyon head is blanketed by up to 1.5 m of structureless muddy medium-grained sand. 210Pbexc activity measurements demonstrate present day sedimentary activity of the canyon head. Time series of currents with peak velocity reaching 0.37 m/s, suspended sediment concentration and temperature indicate that dense water cascading is the main process allowing the reworking, transport and accumulation of sand within the canyon head, even though winter 2003–2004 was characterized by low cascading events compared to other years. These sand beds, called “cascadite” constitute a new type of deposit that differs from other typical slope deposits (turbidites, hyperpycnites, contourites) in terms of flow duration and sedimentological characteristics. They are similar to shallow water contourites. They might be time-equivalent to the recent turbidites described throughout the deep western Gulf of Lions basin

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Cascades of dense water around the world ocean

Cited by 271 publications

References 77 publications

Scales and dynamics of Submesoscale Coherent Vortices formed by deep convection in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea

Scales and dynamics of Submesoscale Coherent Vortices formed by deep convection in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea

Dense water formation and circulation in the Barents Sea

Massive sand beds attributed to deposition by dense water cascades in the Bourcart canyon head, Gulf of Lions (northwestern Mediterranean Sea)

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