Despite its crucial role in sustaining the global meridional overturning circulation, turbulent mixing remains poorly observed, particularly in the deep ocean. We deployed 1200 kHz Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCPs) with high temporal [O(1 s)] and spatial [O(2 cm)] resolution to obtain continuous measurements of turbulent mixing at a depth of 1086 m in the northeastern South China Sea. Comparative experiments and the e...

Oceanic eddies accompanied by a significant vertical velocity ( w ) are known to be of great importance for the vertical transport of various climatically, biologically or biogeochemically relevant properties. Using quasi-geostrophic w -thinking to extend the classic “ β -spiral” w -theory for gyre circulations to isolated and nearly symmetric oceanic mesoscale eddies, we propose that their w motion will be dominated by a stro...

This study investigates the interannual modes of the tropical Pacific using salinity from observations, ocean reanalysis output and CMIP6 products. Here we propose two indices of sea surface salinity (SSS), a monopole mode and a dipole mode, to identify the El Niño—South Oscillation (ENSO) and its diversity, respectively. The monopole mode is primarily controlled by atmospheric forcing, namely, the enhanced precipitation that...