Ocean mixing is a physical oceanographic phenomenon encompassing the turbulent and wave-driven processes that irreversibly redistribute heat, salt, momentum, and biogeochemical tracers within the ocean interior and boundary layers. It is mediated by shear instability, double-diffusive convection, internal waves (including internal tides), and boundary-generated turbulence, and is quantified using parameters such as diapycnal and isopycnal diffusivities. Ocean mixing regulates the vertical exchange between the surface and deep ocean, controls stratification and overturning circulation, influences climate-relevant heat and carbon storage, and sets nutrient supply to the euphotic zone, thereby coupling physical dynamics with marine biogeochemistry.
From coral reefs and kelp forests to the open ocean and deep-sea zones, nutrients that support phytoplankton growth and marine productivity form the foundation of oceanic ecosystems. When levels of key nutrients—such as nitrate ...
Environment
Mar 12, 2026
1
57
The South China Sea Throughflow (SCSTF) serves as a critical oceanic conveyor belt for heat and freshwater, mediating water exchanges between the South China Sea (SCS) and the Pacific and Indian oceans while regulating key ...
Earth Sciences
Feb 27, 2026
0
45
An ungainly barrel of a shark cruising languidly over a barren seabed far too deep for the sun's rays to illuminate was an unexpected sight.
Plants & Animals
Feb 18, 2026
0
2772
Yesterday, an international team of researchers from various disciplines set off aboard the German research vessel METEOR for an expedition along the west coast of Africa, led by the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research ...
Earth Sciences
Feb 17, 2026
0
13
New research from the University of Copenhagen suggests that volcanic eruptions during the Ice Age may have triggered sudden climate change by disrupting the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), causing temperatures ...
Earth Sciences
Feb 17, 2026
0
89
A new study shows that during the last two deglaciations, i.e., the transition from an ice age to the warm interglacial periods, meltwater from the Antarctic ice sheet intensified stratification in the Southern Ocean. The ...
Earth Sciences
Feb 14, 2026
2
157
Seamounts and the oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) are two typical deep-sea habitats that often coexist. However, determining whether the "seamount effect" alters OMZ structure through marine stratification, thereby influencing ...
Earth Sciences
Feb 5, 2026
0
16
When most of us look out at the ocean, we see a mostly flat blue surface stretching to the horizon. It's easy to imagine the sea beneath as calm and largely static—a massive, still abyss far removed from everyday experience.
Earth Sciences
Jan 29, 2026
0
56
An interdisciplinary study confirms, for the first time, the oceanographic pathways that transport floating macroalgae from the coastal waters of Southwest Greenland to deep-sea carbon reservoirs, potentially playing a previously ...
Earth Sciences
Jan 26, 2026
0
23
Over Christmas, vegetables, bananas and insulation foam washed up on beaches along England's southeast coast. They were from 16 containers spilled by the cargo ship Baltic Klipper in rough seas. In the new year, a further ...
Environment
Jan 24, 2026
0
694
