Diabatic Upwelling in the Tropical Pacific: Seasonal and Subseasonal Variability

The equatorial Pacific zonal circulation is composed of westward surface currents, the eastward equatorial undercurrent (EUC) along the thermocline, and upwelling in the eastern cold tongue. Part of this upwelling arises from water flowing along isotherms sloping up to the east, but it also includes water mass transformation and consequent diabatic (cross-isothermal) flow (w(ci)) that is a key element of surface-to-thermocline communication. In this study we investigate the mean seasonal cycle and subseasonal variability of cross-isothermal flow in the cold tongue using heat budget output from a high-resolution forced ocean model. Diabatic upwelling is present throughout the year with surface-layer solar-penetration-driven diabatic upwelling strongest in boreal spring and vertical mixing in the thermocline dominating during the rest of the year. The former constitutes warming of the surface layer by solar radiation rather than exchange of thermal energy between water parcels. The mixing-driven regime allows heat to be transferred to the core of the EUC by warming parcels at depth. On subseasonal time scales the passage of tropical instability waves (TIWs) enhances diabatic upwelling on and north of the equator. On the equator the TIWs enhance vertical shear and induce vertical-mixing-driven diabatic upwelling, while off the equator TIWs enhance the sub-5-daily eddy heat flux which enhances diabatic upwelling. Comparing the magnitudes of TIW, seasonal, and interannual w(ci) variability, we conclude that each time scale is associated with sizeable variance. Variability across all of these time scales needs to be taken into account when modeling or diagnosing the effects of mixing on equatorial upwelling.

Automated summary

This study investigates the seasonal and subseasonal variability of cross-isothermal flow in the cold tongue of the equatorial Pacific. Diabatic upwelling is present throughout the year, with solar-penetration-driven diabatic upwelling strongest in spring and vertical mixing dominating during the rest of the year. The passage of tropical instability waves enhances the diabatic upwelling.