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All Mixed Up

Deep waters don’t run still, they are moved by currents, turbulence, and “internal waves” that cannot be seen at the surface. In a landmark experiment in the mid-1990s, WHOI scientists Kurt Polzin, Ray Schmitt, John Toole, and Jim Ledwell used a High Resolution Profiler to track how waters mixed in the deep waters of the Brazil Basin. They found much more turbulence and mixing in waters above mountainous terrain (right) than in waters above smoother seafloor (left). This mixing plays a crucial role in bringing deep water masses back toward the surface as part of global circulation patterns. (Image by Kurt Polzin, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)