Tidal Mixing

Tidal mixing is turbulent mixing driven when tidal currents flow over bottom topography, converting barotropic tidal energy into turbulence directly in the bottom boundary layer and indirectly by generating internal tides that break in the interior. Roughly 1 terawatt of the global 3.5 terawatts of tidal dissipation occurs in the deep ocean over rough topography, ridges, and seamounts, supplying much of the mixing that drives the abyssal overturning. On shelves, strong tidal mixing erodes stratification and sets tidal mixing fronts separating well-mixed from stratified water, a key control on shelf-sea primary production.