Relating the diffusive salt flux just below the ocean surface to boundary freshwater and salt fluxes

Nurser, A. J. George; Griffies, Stephen M.. 2019 Relating the diffusive salt flux just below the ocean surface to boundary freshwater and salt fluxes. Journal of Physical Oceanography, 49 (9). 2365-2376. 10.1175/JPO-D-19-0037.1

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Abstract/Summary

We detail the physical means whereby boundary transfers of freshwater and salt induce diffusive fluxes of salinity. Our considerations focus on the kinematic balance between the diffusive fluxes of salt and freshwater, with this balance imposed by mass conservation for an element of seawater. The flux balance leads to a specific form for the diffusive salt flux immediately below the ocean surface and, in the Boussinesq approximation, to a specific form for the salinity flux. This note clarifies conceptual and formulational ambiguities in the literature concerning the surface boundary condition for the salinity equation and for the contribution of freshwater to the buoyancy budget.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	10.1175/JPO-D-19-0037.1
ISSN:	0022-3670
Date made live:	24 May 2019 09:23 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/523493

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