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Nature: In 1966 Walter Munk proposed that small-scale turbulence in the deep ocean could be driving the ocean's massive currents by causing cold water to rise and heat up, forcing the water to circulate. Now Raffaele Ferrari of MIT and his colleagues suggest that while turbulence is the driving force, it is actually pulling warm water downward, not pushing cold water upward. Using measurements of actual deep ocean turbulence, Ferrari's team created simulations that showed that turbulence causes upper, less-dense layers of water to mix with the lower, denser layers. The model showed cold water rising from the deep only near continental shelfs, with the central regions of the oceans dominated by warm waters sinking.
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Ocean turbulence may work in reverse Free
29 February 2016