Observations of diapycnal upwelling within a sloping submarine canyon

Bethan L. Wynne-Cattanach (), Nicole Couto, Henri F. Drake, Raffaele Ferrari, Arnaud Boyer, Herlé Mercier, Marie-José Messias, Xiaozhou Ruan, Carl P. Spingys, Hans Haren, Gunnar Voet, Kurt Polzin, Alberto C. Naveira Garabato and Matthew H. Alford
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Bethan L. Wynne-Cattanach: University of California San Diego
Nicole Couto: University of California San Diego
Henri F. Drake: University of California Irvine
Raffaele Ferrari: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Arnaud Boyer: University of California San Diego
Herlé Mercier: Ifremer Centre de Bretagne
Marie-José Messias: University of Exeter
Xiaozhou Ruan: Boston University
Carl P. Spingys: National Oceanography Centre
Hans Haren: Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ)
Gunnar Voet: University of California San Diego
Kurt Polzin: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Alberto C. Naveira Garabato: University of Southampton
Matthew H. Alford: University of California San Diego

Nature, 2024, vol. 630, issue 8018, 884-890

Abstract: Abstract Small-scale turbulent mixing drives the upwelling of deep water masses in the abyssal ocean as part of the global overturning circulation1. However, the processes leading to mixing and the pathways through which this upwelling occurs remain insufficiently understood. Recent observational and theoretical work2–5 has suggested that deep-water upwelling may occur along the ocean’s sloping seafloor; however, evidence has, so far, been indirect. Here we show vigorous near-bottom upwelling across isopycnals at a rate of the order of 100 metres per day, coupled with adiabatic exchange of near-boundary and interior fluid. These observations were made using a dye released close to the seafloor within a sloping submarine canyon, and they provide direct evidence of strong, bottom-focused diapycnal upwelling in the deep ocean. This supports previous suggestions that mixing at topographic features, such as canyons, leads to globally significant upwelling3,6–8. The upwelling rates observed were approximately 10,000 times higher than the global average value required for approximately 30 × 106 m3 s−1 of net upwelling globally9.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07411-2

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