Ocean Currents: Physical Drivers in a Changing World opens with a general introduction to the character, measurement, and simulation of ocean currents, leading to a physical and dynamical framework for understanding the wide variety of flows encountered in the oceans. The book comprises chapters covering distinct aspects of contrasting ocean currents: broad and slow, deep and shallow, narrow and swift, large scale and small scale, low latitudes and high latitudes, and moving in horizontal and vertical planes. Through this approach the authors cover a wide range of applications, from local to global, with considerable geographical context.
- Provides analyses of ocean observations and numerical model simulations, highlighting the pathways and drift associated with ocean currents, around the World Ocean, linked to online exercises for instructors and students that extend this perspective
- Presents applications to natural phenomena, showing how ocean currents shape marine ecosystems, helping researchers understand the distribution and adaptation of life in the oceans
- Addresses societal challenges, specifically how ocean currents disperse pollutants (e.g. plastic) from coastal sources and how the global ocean circulation is central to our changing climate, helping students and researchers develop an interdisciplinary approach to global environmental change
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.
