Abstract
Serendipitous measurements of deep internal wave signatures are evident
in variations in the descent rates of certain Deep Argo floats (Deep
SOLO models), which oscillate around a slow decrease with increasing
pressure (and density). Averaged from 1000 dbar to the seafloor (using
10070 profiles that extend to at least 3000 dbar, and sometimes as deep
as 6000 dbar) the mean of vertical velocity variances corresponds to a
sinusoidal wave amplitude of about 0.007 dbar s-1. The
distribution of variances is skewed towards larger values. They also
exhibit notable regional variations among and within some deep ocean
basins, with generally larger variances in regions of rougher topography
or stronger deep currents. Dominant vertical wavelengths estimated from
Morlet wavelet transform power spectra range from 393 to 1572 dbar, most
frequently 786 and 935 dbar. Vertical wavelengths are weakly
anticorrelated with bathymetric roughness, expectedly since shorter
wavelengths should be found near generation regions.