A Note on the Influence of Spatially Varying Diffusivities on the Evolution of Buoyancy with a Nonlinear Equation of State

Abstract

Abstract The oceanic buoyancy sinks from thermobaricity and cabbeling are quantified using hydrography and parameterized diffusive fluxes of heat and salt. A novelty in this study is that the effect of spatially varying diffusivities is considered and quantified. The spatial distribution as well as averages from different ocean basins of the cabbeling and thermobaricity sinks are shown and discussed. The contributions from isoneutral and dianeutral diffusion to the cabbeling and thermobaricity sinks are calculated separately, and their relative importance is seen to vary in the different ocean basins.