OS
Ocean Sciences

Ocean Sciences

How Climate Models helped uncover the mechanisms behind the North Atlantic Warming Hole

How Climate Models helped uncover the mechanisms behind the North Atlantic Warming Hole

One of the only regions that have been observed to cool over the past century is the North Atlantic cold blob just south of Greenland. In our recent paper, we analyse the cold blob or “warming hole” and the processes that contribute to its creation and evolution. While sea surface temperature has been reliably observed, the underlying mechanisms of changing ocean circulation are only sparsely meas ...[Read More]

Research Cruise in times of COVID-19

Research Cruise in times of COVID-19

While the whole world is on stand-by we are in the middle of the North Atlantic and I want to explain you, why! During those crazy times cruise planning also slightly changes. The original plan was to depart and arrive back in Reykjavik which would have only included a short transit to our research area, the OSNAP East section. In the end we had a 9 day transit from our homeport Texel, Netherlands ...[Read More]

Why do mesoscale eddies disappear at ocean western boundaries?

Why do mesoscale eddies disappear at ocean western boundaries?

In the ocean, mesoscale eddies are everywhere. In fact, about 90% of the ocean’s kinetic energy is contained within these ubiquitous, ~100 km swirling vortices. We know how these eddies form, through a process known as baroclinic instability, where density surfaces are tilted too steeply and become unstable. What remains unclear however, is what happens to this energy when eddies die. This knowled ...[Read More]

OceanTalk with Frédéric Le Moigne

OceanTalk with Frédéric Le Moigne

Frédéric Le Moigne has been awarded the 2020 Outstanding Early Career Scientist Award for the Division of Ocean Sciences and he agreed to be interviewed for our first blog post on the new Ocean Sciences blog. Frédéric can you tell us about your background and education? I was born and raised on the Atlantic coast, near the bay of Brest in Brittany, western France. In Brittany the ocean is an impor ...[Read More]