Recent  

In this study, 2-year mooring observations show the evolution of temperature, salinity, and currents in the northern Barents Sea. Inflow of Atlantic Water from the north in autumn and winter was the main driver of the seasonal cycle in the ocean. Winds modulated the inflow on shorter timescales. The upper-ocean state reflected how much sea ice had previously melted in the area. The import of ocean water and sea ice from adjacent regions plays a key role in the complex air–ice–ocean interplay.

Ice shelves in the Amundsen Sea are thinning rapidly as ocean currents bring warm water into cavities beneath the floating ice. We use 2-year-long mooring records and 16-year-long model simulations to describe the hydrography and circulation near the ice front between Siple and Carney Islands. We find that temperatures here are lower than at neighboring ice fronts and that the transport of heat toward the cavity is governed by wind stress over the Amundsen Sea continental shelf.

Surface flow fields of the global oceans are dominated by so-called mesoscale (50–300 km) eddies. They usually drift westward at a few kilometers per day, transporting mass, temperature, chlorophyll, and debris. There are several methods to identify and track eddies based on satellite measurements, some of them very computationally demanding. Here we extend a recently proposed simple procedure to the global scale, which gives quick coarse-grained statistics on mesoscale vortex properties.

More and more studies indicate that the open ocean can be a significant source of methane, the second greenhouse gas after CO₂. Our study in the subtropical North Atlantic Ocean shows that a significant part of the methane flux to the atmosphere is related to cyanobacteria, which are ubiquitous phytoplankton that produce methane as part of their metabolic activity. This study is a response to the lack of data on the role of the oceans in the methane budget in the context of climate change.

Explaining the dynamics of jellyfish blooms is a challenge for scientists. Biological and meteo-oceanographic data were combined on different timescales to explain the exceptional bloom of the jellyfish Rhizostoma pulmo in the Gulf of Trieste (Adriatic Sea) in April 2021. The bloom was associated with anomalously warm seasonal sea conditions. Then, a strong bora wind event enhanced upwelling and mixing of the water column, causing jellyfish to rise to the surface and accumulate along the coast.

Tides affect the marine carbonate chemistry of a coastal polynya neighbouring the Ekström Ice Shelf by movement of seawater with different physical and biogeochemical properties. The result is that the coastal polynya in the summer can switch between being a sink or a source of CO₂ multiple times a day. We encourage consideration of tides when collecting in polar coastal regions to account for tide-driven variability and to avoid overestimations or underestimations of air–sea CO₂ exchange.

The surface ocean is turbulent from several hundred to a few kilometres. The more the current field is turbulent, the more traveling waves over the underlying current that are scattered. In this paper we focus on an isolated eddy where spontaneous instabilities have occurred, resulting in the emergence of smaller structures. Thanks to the wave scattering we have been able to retrieve the underlying surface current gradients normally not retrievable with traditional current measurements.

To ensure that the sea level is measured as accurately as possible by satellite altimeters, we must monitor possible sea level drifts caused by those instruments through comparison with other satellite altimeters or tide gauges. In this paper, we describe a method and estimate the associated uncertainties for detecting altimeter drifts over short time periods (from 2 to 10 years) through cross-comparison with other satellite altimeters and apply it to the recent Sentinel-3 A/B altimeters.

An underwater glider mission was carried out in spring 2016 near a mooring in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea. The glider deployment served as a test of a prototype ion-sensitive field-effect transistor pH sensor. Mean net community production rates were estimated from glider and buoy measurements of dissolved oxygen and inorganic carbon concentrations before and during the spring bloom. Incorporating advection is important for accurate mass budgets. Unexpected metabolic quotients were found.

Temperature and salinity profiles are essential for studying the ocean’s stratification, but there are not enough of these data. Satellites are able to measure daily maps of the surface ocean. We train a machine to learn the link between the satellite data and the profiles in the Gulf Stream region. We can then use this link to predict profiles at the high resolution of the satellite maps. Our prediction is fast to compute and allows us to get profiles at any locations only from surface data.

Storm surges, tides, and high river flows often combine to cause flooding in estuaries, a problem known as compound flooding. In this study, we investigate these factors and how changes to estuary and river geometry influence peak water levels. This study offers an analytical framework for reducing estuary flood risk via a better understanding of how bathymetry, surge timescale, and river discharge affect surge and tidal amplitudes and flood heights and inundation in these systems.

Based on altimetry data and in situ hydrographic observations, the impacts of an anticyclone mesoscale eddy (large rotating body of water) on the seawater characteristics were investigated during a research campaign. The particular eddy presents significant anomalies on the seawater properties at 1500 m. The potential role of eddies in the seafloor and its consequential effect on the altered dispersion of mining-related sediment plumes are important to assess future mining operations.

The circulation patterns of surface water over the northern Gulf of Cádiz are described based on hourly high-frequency radar data from 2016 to 2020. A persistent current follows the continental shelf slope eastward while near the coast, and currents generally have a balanced (eastward–westward) direction. In summer cross-shelf transport is promoted when westward coastal countercurrents recirculate offshore in the western region and merge with the slope current.

The South Vietnam Upwelling develops in the coastal and offshore regions of the southwestern South China Sea under the influence of summer monsoon winds. Cold, nutrient-rich waters rise to the surface, where photosynthesis occurs and is essential for fishing activity. We have developed a very high-resolution model to better understand the factors that drive the variability of this upwelling at different scales: daily chronology to summer mean of wind and mesoscale to regional circulation.