Eddy-Resolving Modeling of Overflows

Dense waters flowing through narrow topographic constrictions or down sloping topography as dense overflows are responsible for generating most of the deep water masses of the ocean following mixing with overlying waters. Overflows involve a variety of different physical processes which together determine the volume, transport, and tracer properties of the dense water mass when it reaches the open ocean. In this paper, we review the current state of eddy-resolving modeling of overflows and understanding of mesoscale eddy processes active in overflows, focusing on models where mesoscale eddies are resolved but small-scale mixing is not. At these resolutions, the significant remaining difficulty is the treatment of diapycnal mixing, and we examine the dependence of this mixing on model parameterizations and numerics in overflow simulations.