Research

The scales of turbulent mixing can be very small (on the order of centimeters), yet this turbulence can have global-scale implications for ocean physics ranging from the movement of water in the abyss to the exchange of heat between the ocean and air. My research projects are all motivated by the desire to understand when, where, and how these small scale mixing processes have an impact on larger scale physics and climate. To do this I observe these oceanic processes in a variety of physical contexts and over a range of scales. I also collaborate with modelers to glean additional insights into implications of oceanic mixing than can be accomplished using only observations.

This work could not be possible without hundreds of scientists contributing to the global datasets I use and the help of many collaborators, only a small fraction of whom are listed below.

Mechanisms for Enhanced Mixing Below Tropical Instability Waves


Global Geography of Submesoscale Fronts

Near Inertial Shear and Kinetic Energy in the North Atlantic experiment (NISKINe)

Mixing and Stratification Change in a Changing Climate



Zhang, H. J., C. B. Whalen, N. Kumar, and S. G. Purkey, 2021. Decreased Stratification in the Abyssal Southwest Pacific Basin and Implications for the Energy Budget Geophys. Res. Lett., 2018. (paper)

Global Geography of Mixing from Internal Waves

Whalen, C.B., J. A. MacKinnon, and L. D. Talley, Large-Scale Impacts of the Mesoscale Environment on Mixing from Wind-Driven Internal Waves, Nature Geo., 2018. (paper)

Whalen, C.B., J. A. MacKinnon, L. D. Talley, and A. F. Waterhouse, Estimating the Mean Diapycnal Mixing Using a Finescale Strain Parameterization, J. Phys. Oceanogr., 2015. (paper)

Whalen, C.B., L. D. Talley, and J. A. MacKinnon, Spatial and temporal variability of global ocean mixing inferred from Argo profiles, Geophys. Res. Lett., 2012. (paper)

Finescale Parameterizations

Whalen, C.B., Best Practices for Comparing Ocean Turbulence Measurements Across Spatiotemporal Scales, J. Atmos. Ocean. Technol., 2021. (paper)

Whalen, C.B., J. A. MacKinnon, L. D. Talley, and A. F. Waterhouse, Estimating the Mean Diapycnal Mixing Using a Finescale Strain Parameterization, J. Phys. Oceanogr., 2015. (paper)