The Xiamen Symposium on Marine Environmental Sciences

2027 Xiamen Symposium on Marine Environmental Sciences

January 12-15, 2027

Observing and Explaining Abyssal Upwelling: Lessons from the Boundary Layer Turbulence (BLT) Experiment
ID:898 Invited Oral Presentation

2027-01-13 15:20 (China Standard Time)

Session:Session 12 - Abyssal Circulation and Multiscale Dynamics: Processes, Interactions, and Climate Implications

Abstract

Turbulence observations over recent decades show that mixing intensifies toward the seafloor, implying that abyssal upwelling cannot occur broadly through the interior as classically assumed, but must instead be confined to thin bottom boundary layers along sloping topography (Ferrari et al. 2016; McDougall & Ferrari 2017). The Boundary Layer Turbulence and Abyssal Recipes (BLT) experiment set out to test this paradigm in a submarine canyon on the steep boundary of the Rockall Trough. Moored turbulence measurements, microstructure surveys, and a near-bottom dye release delivered the first direct evidence of vigorous diapycnal upwelling (~100 m day⁻¹) confined to the bottom boundary layer (Wynne-Cattanach et al. 2024; Naveira Garabato et al. 2025), driven by energetic turbulence phase-locked to the tidal cycle. I will close by presenting a dynamical framework that explains the observed upwelling: using an idealized box-canyon model and realistic simulations, I show that the canyon acts as a resonant cavity for standing internal Kelvin waves, whose bottom-intensified shear supplies the turbulence and upwelling — linking basin-scale overturning theory, canyon-scale wave dynamics, and centimeter-scale mixing.

Speaker
Yuchen Ma University of Cambridge

Author
Yuchen Ma University of Cambridge

    Important Dates

    • Jan 30

      2026

      Session / Event proposals open

    • Mar 31

      2026

      Session / Event proposals close
      (Extended to April 7)

    • Apr 30

      2026

      Session acceptance notifications

    • Apr 30

      2026

      Abstract submissions & registration open

    • Jun 30

      2026

      Abstract submissions close
      (Extended to July 21)

    • Aug 31

      2026

      Abstract acceptance notifications

    • Sep 15

      2026

      Scientific program released

    • Oct 15

      2026

      Early bird registration closes

    • Jan 12–15

      2027

      XMAS 2027