Abstract
Dense overflows from marginal seas are critical pathways of oxygen
supply to the Arabian Sea Oxygen Minimum Zone (OMZ), yet these remain
inadequately understood. Climate models struggle to accurately reproduce
the observed extent and intensity of the Arabian Sea OMZ due to their
limited ability to capture processes smaller than their grid scale, such
as dense overflows. Multi-month repeated sections by underwater gliders
off the coast of Oman resolve the contribution of dense Persian Gulf
Water (PGW) outflow to oxygen supply within the Arabian Sea OMZ. We
characterize PGW properties, seasonality, transport and mixing
mechanisms to explain local processes influencing water mass
transformation and oxygen fluxes into the OMZ. Atmospheric forcing at
the source region and eddy mesoscale activity in the Gulf of Oman
control spatiotemporal variability of PGW as it flows along the shelf of
the northern Omani coast. Subseasonally, it is modulated by stirring and
shear-driven mixing driven by eddy-topography interactions. The oxygen
transport from PGW to the OMZ is estimated to be 1.3 Tmol yr-1 over
the observational period, with dramatic inter- and intra-annual
variability (±1.6 Tmol yr-1). We show that this oxygen is supplied
to the interior of the OMZ through the combined action of
double-diffusive and shear-driven mixing. Intermittent shear-driven
mixing enhances double-diffusive processes, with mechanical shear
conditions (Ri<0.25) prevailing 14% of the time at the
oxycline. These findings enhance our understanding of fine-scale
processes influencing oxygen dynamics within the OMZ that can provide
insights for improved modeling and prediction efforts.