Thomsen S., Kanzow T., Colas François, Echevin Vincent, Krahmann G., Engel A. (2016). Do submesoscale frontal processes ventilate the oxygen minimum zone off Peru ?. Geophysical Research Letters, 43 (15), p. 8133-8142. ISSN 0094-8276.
Titre du document
Do submesoscale frontal processes ventilate the oxygen minimum zone off Peru ?
Thomsen S., Kanzow T., Colas François, Echevin Vincent, Krahmann G., Engel A.
Source
Geophysical Research Letters, 2016,
43 (15), p. 8133-8142 ISSN 0094-8276
The Peruvian upwelling system encompasses the most intense and shallowest oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) in the ocean. This system shows pronounced submesoscale activity like filaments and fronts. We carried out glider-based observations off Peru during austral summer 2013 to investigate whether submesoscale frontal processes ventilate the Peruvian OMZ. We present observational evidence for the subduction of highly oxygenated surface water in a submesoscale cold filament. The subduction event ventilates the oxycline but does not reach OMZ core waters. In a regional submesoscale-permitting model we study the pathways of newly upwelled water. About 50% of upwelled virtual floats are subducted below the mixed layer within 5days emphasizing a hitherto unrecognized importance of subduction for the ventilation of the Peruvian oxycline.
