In this research we aim to improve cleanup efforts on the Galapagos Islands of marine plastic debris when resources are limited and the distribution of the plastic on shorelines is unknown. Using a network that describes the flow of macroplastic between the islands we have identified the most efficient cleanup locations, quantified the impact of targeting these locations and showed that shorelines where the plastic is unlikely to leave are likely efficient cleanup locations.

The availability of macronutrients N and Si is of key importance to sustain life in the Southern Ocean. N and Si are available in abundance at the southern boundary of the Southern Ocean due to constant supply from the deep ocean. In the more northern regions of the Southern Ocean, a decline in macronutrient concentration is noticed, especially strong for Si rather than N. This paper uses a simplified biogeochemical model to investigate processes responsible for this decline in concentration.

The ocean can regulate climate by distributing heat and carbon dioxide into its interior. This work has resulted from a major experiment aimed at understanding how that distribution occurs. In the experiment an artificial tracer was released into the ocean. After release the tracer was tracked as it was distorted by ocean currents. Using novel methods we reveal how the tracer's distortions follow the movement of the underlying water masses in the ocean and we estimate the rate at which it mixes.

We compare control volume and geochemical tracer-based methods of estimating the Arctic Ocean freshwater budget and find both methods in good agreement. Inconsistencies arise from the distinction between Atlantic and Pacific waters in the geochemical calculations. The definition of Pacific waters is particularly problematic due to the non-conservative nature of the nutrients underpinning the definition and the low salinity characterizing waters entering the Arctic through Bering Strait.

We investigate the rapidly changing equilibrium between the momentum sources and sinks during the passage of a single two-peak storm over the Catalan inner shelf (NW Mediterranean Sea). At 24m water depth, a primary momentum balance between acceleration, pressure gradient and frictional forces (surface and bottom) is established. The frictional adjustment timescale was around 10h, consistent with the e-folding time obtained from bottom drag parameterizations.