Based on the equations of motion and the assumption that ocean turbulence is of isotropy or quasi-isotropy, we derived the closure equations of the second-order moments and the variation equations for characteristic quantities, which describe the mechanisms of advection transport and shear instability by the sum of wave-like and eddy-like motions and circulation. Given that ocean turbulence generated by wave breaking is dominant at the ocean surface, we presented the boundary conditions of the turbulence kinetic energy and its dissipation rate, which are determined by energy loss from wave breaking and entrainment depth respectively. According to the equilibrium solution of the variation equations and available data of the dissipation rate, we obtained an analytical estimation of the characteristic quantities of surface-wave-generated turbulence in the upper ocean and its related mixing coefficient. The derived kinetic dissipation rate was validated by field measurements qualitatively and quantitatively, and the mixing coefficient had fairly good consistency with previous results based on the Prandtl mixing length theory.
Based on their differences in physical characteristics and time-space scales,the ocean motions have been divided into four types in the present paper:turbulence,wave-like motion,eddy-like motion and circulation.Applying the three-fold Reynolds averages to the governing equations with Boussinesq approximation,with the averages defined on the former three sub-systems,we derive the governing equation sets of the four sub-systems and refer to their sum as "the ocean dynamic system".In these equation sets,the interactions among different motions appear in two forms:the first one includes advection transport and shear instability generation of larger scale motions,and the second one is the mixing induced by smaller scale motions in the form of transport flux residue.The governing equation sets are the basis of analytical/numerical descriptions of various ocean processes.
