Extended Data Figure 6: Bottom-intensified mixing scenarios.
From: Abyssal ocean overturning shaped by seafloor distribution
32° S–48° N density profiles of the total density flux (a, d), the density flux averaged over density surfaces (b, e) and total dianeutral transports (c, f), under various scenarios for the local intensity of bottom-intensified mixing. Specifically, we set the magnitude of local density-flux profiles proportional to (see also labels and Methods): characteristics of the large-scale topography (a–c, orange and red); characteristics of small-scale abyssal hills (a–c, dark and pale blue); bottom energy fluxes into internal waves (d–f, orange and red); and powers of the bottom buoyancy frequency N (d–f, dark and pale blue). Here ‘slope2’ refers to the squared topographic slope. Absolute values of density fluxes are chosen such that the peak upwelling rate is 25 × 106 m3 s−1 for all scenarios. Only the structure—as opposed to the magnitude—of dianeutral transports thus warrants interpretation.
