Submesoscale eddies (those smaller than 50~km) are ubiquitous throughout the ocean, as revealed by satellite infrared images. Diagnosing their impact on ocean energetics from observations remains a challenge. This study analyzes a turbulent field of submesoscale eddies using airborne observations of surface currents and sea surface temperature, with high spatial resolution, collected during the S-MODE experiment in October 2022. Assuming surface current divergence and temperature are homogeneous down to 30 m depth, we show that more than 80% of the upward vertical heat fluxes, reaching ~227 W~m^{-2}, is explained by the smallest resolved eddies, with a size smaller than 15 km. This result emphasizes the contribution of small-scale eddies, poorly represented in numerical models, to the ocean heat budget and, therefore, to the climate system

Abyssal T-waves are seismo-acoustic waves originating from abyssal oceans. Unlike subduction-zone-generated slope T-waves which are generated through multiple reflections between the sea surface and the gently dipping seafloor, the genesis of abyssal T-waves cannot be explained by the same theory. Several hypotheses, including seafloor scattering, sea surface scattering, and internal-wave-induced volumetric scattering, have been proposed to elucidate their genesis and propagation. The elusive mechanism of abyssal T-waves, particularly at low-frequencies, hinders their use to quantify ocean temperatures through seismic ocean thermometry (SOT) and estimate oceanic earthquake parameters. Here, using realistic geophysical and oceanographic data, we first conduct numerical simulations to compare synthetic low-frequency abyssal T-waves under different hypotheses. Our simulations for the Romanche and Blanco transform faults suggest seafloor scattering as the dominant mechanism, with sea surface and internal waves contributing marginally. Short-scale bathymetry can significantly enhance abyssal T-waves across a broad frequency range. Also, observed T-waves from repeating earthquakes in the Romanche, Chain, and Blanco transform faults exhibit remarkably high repeatability. Given the dynamic nature of sea surface roughness and internal waves, the highly repeatable T-wave arrivals further support the seafloor scattering as the primary mechanism. The dominance of seafloor scattering makes abyssal T-waves usable for constraining ocean temperature changes, thereby greatly expanding the data spectrum of SOT. Our observations of repeating abyssal T-waves in the Romanche and Chain transform faults could provide a valuable dataset for understanding Equatorial Atlantic warming. Still, further investigations incorporating high-resolution bathymetry are warranted to better model abyssal T-waves for earthquake parameter estimation.

Seismic ocean thermometry uses sound waves generated by repeating earthquakes to measure temperature change in the deep ocean. In this study, waves generated by earthquakes along the Japan Trench and received at Wake Island are used to constrain temperature variations in the Kuroshio Extension region. This region is characterized by energetic mesoscale eddies and large decadal variability, posing a challenging sampling problem for conventional ocean observations. The seismic measurements are obtained from a hydrophone station off and a seismic station on Wake Island, with the seismic station's digital record reaching back to 1997. These measurements are combined in an inversion for the time and azimuth dependence of the range-averaged deep temperatures, revealing lateral and temporal variations due to Kuroshio Extension meanders, mesoscale eddies, and decadal water mass rearrangements. These results highlight the potential of seismic ocean thermometry for better constraining the variability and trends in deep-ocean temperatures. By overcoming the aliasing problem of point measurements, these measurements complement existing ship- and float-based hydrographic measurements.

The subpolar North Atlantic is a site of significant carbon dioxide, oxygen, and heat exchange with the atmosphere. This exchange, which regulates transient climate change and prevents large-scale hypoxia throughout the North Atlantic, is thought to be mediated by vertical mixing in the ocean's surface mixed layer. Here we present observational evidence that waters deeper than the conventionally defined mixed layer are affected directly by atmospheric forcing. When northerly winds blow along the Irminger Sea's western boundary current, the Ekman response pushes denser water over lighter water and triggers slantwise convection. We estimate that this down-front wind forcing is four times stronger than air--sea heat flux buoyancy forcing and can mix waters to several times the conventionally defined mixed layer depth. Slantwise convection is not included in most large-scale ocean models, which likely limits their ability to accurately represent subpolar water mass transformations and deep ocean ventilation.