Vertical profiles of ocean temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen concentration, and currents
were obtained during austral winter 1997 from a region extending from the northeastern
Antarctic Peninsula to the South Orkney Plateau in the northern Weddell Sea. From these
data we estimate the spatial variation of shear-driven turbulent mixing and the mean
diapycnal diffusivity (Kv) in the main pycnocline. We conclude that the mean upper ocean
heat flux in the northwestern Weddell Sea is in the range 2–10Wm− 2. The ocean tide …