Bottom mixed layer derivation and spatial variability over the central and eastern abyssal Pacific Ocean

Kolbusz, Jessica; Harrison, Devin; Jones, Nicole; O'Callaghan, Joanne; Sohail, Taimoor; Bond, Todd; Stewart, Heather; Jamieson, Alan

doi:10.5194/os-22-257-2026

Articles | Volume 22, issue 1

https://doi.org/10.5194/os-22-257-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/os-22-257-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 22, issue 1

Research article

|

22 Jan 2026

Research article |

| 22 Jan 2026

Bottom mixed layer derivation and spatial variability over the central and eastern abyssal Pacific Ocean

Jessica Kolbusz, Devin Harrison, Nicole Jones, Joanne O'Callaghan, Taimoor Sohail, Todd Bond, Heather Stewart, and Alan Jamieson

Data sets

GO-SHIP Easy Ocean: Formatted and gridded ship-based hydrographic section data (2024UpdateBugfix1) K. Katsumata et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13315689

Temperature-pressure data over the central and eastern abyssal Pacific Ocean from the Trans-Pacific Transit Expedition J. Kolbusz and A. Jamieson https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15536316

Global maps of internal tide generation and dissipation C. de Lavergne et al. https://doi.org/10.17882/58105

Short summary

The bottom mixed layer is where water at the seafloor mixes with the water column above it, helping to move heat and nutrients around the ocean. Using new observations from the Pacific Ocean and publicly available data, we found that depth, seafloor shape, and internal wave energy losses explain much of the variation in the bottom mixed layer thickness. Our findings offer new insights into how these seafloor regions change over an abyssal region and where future measurements should focus.