Ocean Currents

Professor Robert Marsh holds a Chair in Oceanography and Climate at the University of Southampton. With disciplinary expertise in Physical Oceanography, he has a wide range of experience across ocean and climate science, and specifically an in-depth knowledge of ocean currents. Examples of applied studies include the influences of ocean currents on sea turtle hatchlings, volcanic pumice and icebergs. He also co-pioneered the development and use of ocean, climate and Earth System models, and the water mass transformation framework that provides a novel perspective on physical and biogeochemical processes in the oceans. He has extensive experience of undergraduate and postgraduate oceanography teaching, both in the classroom and in the field. He is lead or co-author of around 100 peer-reviewed publications. Dr Erik van Sebille is an Professor in Oceanography at Utrecht University, investigating the time scales and pathways of the global ocean circulation. His research focuses on how ocean currents transport heat and nutrients, as well as marine organisms and plastics between different regions. He has led the “Tracking Of Plastic In Our Seas” (TOPIOS) project, funded by European Research Council Starting Grant. He won the 2016 European Geosciences Union (EGU) Ocean Division Outstanding Young Scientist Award, a 2019 American Geophysical Union (AGU) James B. Macelwane Medal and the 2020 European Research Council (ERC) Public Engagement with Research Award in the category Press & media relations. He is lead or co-author of more than 100 peer-reviewed publications.

1. Introduction to ocean currents - basic principles of cause and effect, measurement and modelling tools, etc.
2. Global gyres/Ekman drift - slow background flows and evolution/plastics/volcanic pumice/tsunami debris
3. Global western boundary currents and life - swift flows and marine life; dispersal of turtle hatchlings
4. Global eastern boundary currents and life - European Slope Current; Californian, Humboldt and Benguela Currents; links to upwelling and shifting ecosystems
5. Currents near the Equator and fast trans-basin flows - links to tropical climate variability (especially El Nino)
6. Connecting Oceans with upper ocean flows - Agulhas and Tasman leakage (connecting Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans)
7. Polar currents, icebergs and sea ice - the Antarctic Coastal Current and the Labrador Current (conveying icebergs); the East Greenland Current (and sea ice)
8. Connecting shallow (warm) and deep (cold) currents with climate - the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation; the global Conveyor Belt circulation
9. Seasonal flows in shallow shelf seas (around the world) and implications for pollution/biology
10. Indigenous (ancient) knowledge of ocean currents - e.g., colonisation of Australia, Polynesia
11. Utility of ocean currents for seafarers in recorded history - e.g., use of Gulf Stream for trans-Atlantic trade
12. Research Challenges and the Future - How might new technologies help us to develop a more complete understanding of ocean currents? How might currents change with climate, how might they change climate?