Geosciences Dept. Seminar: Submesoscale Oceanography: A New Frontier

​Abstract:

Submesoscale Oceanography is an emerging field in physical oceanography that focuses on the study of oceanic phenomena such as fronts, filaments, and eddies with spatial scales of O(0.1-10km) and time scales of O(hours-day). These flow features are instrumental in transferring properties from the surface of the ocean to the interior, thereby affecting a wide range of physical and biogeochemical processes. In addition, they are believed to influence the dispersion of contaminants, and to provide an important route for kinetic energy dissipation, thus impacting the general circulation of the oceans and the climate system.

In this talk I will introduce the scientific challenges associated with the study of Submesoscale Oceanography and present recent theoretical, numerical, and observational results based on projects in the Gulf of Mexico and the North Atlantic Ocean.

Seminar Organizer: Prof. Eyal Haifetz