WHOI PO

Abstract:

Physical transport injects organic carbon from the surface ocean into the interior at a rate of roughly a fifth of the biological carbon pump. Yet, published estimates of this “mixing pump” span an order of magnitude mostly because of a lack of a common, standard framework. As part of JETZON, a working group on the mixing flux was formed to benchmark the mixing pump's three classical components: the large-scale, mixed-layer, and eddy-subduction pumps. In this work, we aim to (1) reconcile the classical approach with a dynamically rooted framework to provide an overview of current estimates, (2) contribute new benchmarks, and (3) identify avenues for future work to better constrain the mixing pump.