The main thermocline in the region east of Barbados shows a quasi-permanent vertical structure in the temperature and salinity profiles characterized by well mixed layers about 50m thick separated by thin layers of 1 to 10m with very strong gradients in these properties. This produces a staircase effect in the vertical profiles with horizontal coherent scales on the order of several hundred kilometers. Salt fingering and double diffusion are believed to be the dominant mixing mechanisms in this region. Schmitt will analyze the data collected in this region during the Caribbean Sheets and Layers Transects (CSALT) program. Salt fingers have been identified with optical microstructure instru- ments but certain details differ considerably from theoretical predictions. Analytical and numerical models of microstructure, fine scale and large scale properties will be used. This study will be a valuable contribution towards our understanding of mixing in the ocean and formation of water masses.
