Water isotopes in the ocean trace the freshwater exchanges between the ocean, the atmosphere, and the cryosphere and are used to investigate processes of the hydrological cycle. We illustrate offsets in seawater isotopic composition between different datasets that are larger than the expected variability that one often wants to explore. This highlights the need to share seawater isotopic composition samples dedicated to specific intercomparison of data produced in different laboratories.

Ocean circulations include small-scale processes like transport through sub-mesoscale eddies and turbulence by internal wave breaking. Knowledge is lacking on the interaction between the different processes. In deep, weakly stratified waters, continuous spectral slopes are observed that extend from sub-mesoscales across the internal wave band to the turbulence range. Such correspondence is suggested as being a potential feedback mechanism stabilizing large-scale ocean circulations.