TY - JOUR T1 - Submesoscale streamers exchange water on the north wall of the Gulf Stream A1 - Klymak,Jody M. A1 - Shearman,R. Kipp A1 - Gula,Jonathan A1 - Lee,Craig M. A1 - D'Asaro,Eric A. A1 - Thomas,Leif N. A1 - Harcourt,Ramsey R. A1 - Shcherbina,Andrey Y. A1 - Sundermeyer,Miles A. A1 - Molemaker,Jeroen A1 - McWilliams,James C. AD - Univ Victoria, Sch Earth & Ocean Sci, Victoria, BC, Canada. AD - Oregon State Univ, Coll Earth Ocean & Atmospher Sci, Corvallis, OR 97331 USA. AD - Univ Bretagne Occidentale, Lab Oceanog Phys & Spatiale, Brest, France. AD - Univ Washington, Appl Phys Lab, Seattle, WA 98195 USA. AD - Stanford Univ, Sch Earth Sci, Stanford, CA 94305 USA. AD - Univ Massachusetts, Sch Marine Sci & Technol, Dartmouth, MA USA. AD - Univ Calif Los Angeles, Dept Atmospher & Ocean Sci, Los Angeles, CA USA. UR - https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00600/71201/ DO - 10.1002/2015GL067152 KW - ocean mixing KW - Gulf Stream KW - submesoscale mixing KW - eddies N2 - The Gulf Stream is a major conduit of warm surface water from the tropics to the subpolar North Atlantic. Here we observe and simulate a submesoscale (<20km) mechanism by which the Gulf Stream exchanges water with subpolar water to the north. Along isopycnals, the front has a sharp compensated temperature-salinity contrast, with distinct mixed water between the two water masses 2 and 4km wide. This mixed water does not increase downstream despite substantial energy available for mixing. A series of streamers detrain this water at the crest of meanders. Subpolar water replaces the mixed water and resharpens the front. The water mass exchange accounts for a northward flux of salt of 0.5-2.5 psum(2)s(-1), (large-scale diffusivity O (100m(2)s(-1))). This is similar to bulk-scale flux estimates of 1.2psum(2)s(-1) and supplies fresher water to the Gulf Stream required for the production of 18 degrees subtropical mode water. Y1 - 2016/02 PB - Amer Geophysical Union JF - Geophysical Research Letters SN - 0094-8276 VL - 43 IS - 3 SP - 1226 EP - 1233 ID - 71201 ER -