Ms. Teresa Garner
Center for Coastal Physical Oceanography
Monday, October 3, 2005
3:30 PM
Room 109, Crittenton Hall
Abstract
Using CTD measurements, I have investigated the length and time scales of vertical mixing in the
Ross Sea under different mixing conditions paying particular attention to the scales associated with
very well mixed surface layers, small turbulent eddies and internal waves. Primary motivation for
this work is to use standard shipboard equipment to supply the biological oceanographer with basic
information about surface layer mixing, which affects a phytoplankton’s exposure to light and UVB
radiation and therefore its production capabilities. During the data collection period, late December
through late January, internal waves contributed much more to vertical water displacement than turbulent
eddies when the surface layer was partially or strongly stratified. Length scales in cases where the surface
layer was well mixed were defined as the depth of the mixed layer and represented the greatest vertical
displacements in the study. Although new techniques were developed for calculating and validating estimates
of the vertical eddy length scales known as Thorpe scales, my findings indicate that reliable Thorpe scales
are very difficult to achieve in the upper surface layer with a ship-based profiler due to ship interference.
Biography
Teresa Garner received her bachelor’s degree in Earth & Atmospheric Sciences from the Georgia Institute of
Technology in 2000 and her master’s degree in Oceanography from Old Dominion University in 2005. Previous
work at the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography and at NOAA included harmonic analysis of tides to study
tidal asymmetry and to generate tidal current predictions. She is currently employed at the Center for
Coastal Physical Oceanography at ODU and continues to work on methods for determining vertical mixing
scales using a free-fall CTD as well as measuring internal wave amplitudes using a digital echo sounder.
In mid-October, she will travel back to the Ross Sea to apply these methods.
Reception before seminar at 3:00 PM
Crittenton Hall
Old Dominion University
Norfolk, VA 23529
757-683-5548
Last updated 9/20/2005.
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