Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 26, 2026

Evolution of Staircase Structures in Diffusive Convection
Published on: September 5, 2018
Observing mesoscale eddy effects on mode-water subduction and transport in the North Pacific
Lixiao Xu1, Peiliang Li1, Shang-Ping Xie1,2
1Physical Oceanography Laboratory/Qingdao Collaborative Innovation Center of Marine Science and Technology, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China.
Abstract:
While modelling studies suggest that mesoscale eddies strengthen the subduction of mode waters, this eddy effect has never been observed in the field. Here we report results from a field campaign from March 2014 that captured the eddy effects on mode-water subduction south of the Kuroshio Extension east of Japan. The experiment deployed 17 Argo floats in an anticyclonic eddy (AC) with enhanced daily sampling. Analysis of over 3,000 hydrographic profiles following the AC reveals that potential vorticity and apparent oxygen utilization distributions are asymmetric outside the AC core, with enhanced subduction near the southeastern rim of the AC. There, the southward eddy flow advects newly ventilated mode water from the north into the main thermocline. Our results show that subduction by eddy lateral advection is comparable in magnitude to that by the mean flow--an effect that needs to be better represented in climate models.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Magnetostatic Boundary Conditions
Eddy Currents
Other major applications of eddy currents appear in metal detectors and the braking systems of trains and roller...
Boundary Layer Characteristics
Influence of Earth's Curvature and Atmospheric Refraction on Leveling
Effect of Sea Water on Concrete
Concrete in areas between tide marks,...
Magnetic Susceptibility and Permeability
When diamagnetic materials are placed under an external magnetic field, the moments opposite to the field are induced. Hence, the susceptibility for diamagnets has a minimal negative value of 10-5–10-6. Since...

