The Alboran Sea is a dynamically active region. The interaction between Mediterranean and Atlantic water originates a set of sub-mesoscale structures and a complex sequence of processes that entail mixing close to the thermocline. Here we present a high-resolution map of the diapycnal diffusivity around the thermocline depth obtained using acoustic data recorded with a high-resolution multichannel seismic system. The map revels a patchy thermocline, with areas of strong diapycnal mixing.

To assist in establishing the most likely location of the crash site of MH370, a Boeing 777 aircraft that went missing on March 7, 2014, a drift study was conducted by means of numerical modelling. Three elements were considered: (a) the efficacy of the aerial search; (b) water temperatures along the path of the flaperon; (c) beached debris distribution. The results obtained indicate the crash site is likely located between 25.5°S and 30.5°S along the so-called seventh arc in the Indian Ocean.

We estimated spatial and temporal decorrelation scales of temperature and salinity in the Amerasian Basin in the Arctic Ocean. The estimated scales can be applied to representation error assessment in the ocean data assimilation system for the Arctic Ocean.

A new density–salinity relation of standard seawater was developed based on highly accurate density measurements. The comparison of densities calculated using the new relation with those using the reference equation of state TEOS-10 showed significant deviations that are likely caused by accuracy overestimations of some density data underlying TEOS-10 and EOS-80. The new relation enables the determination of seawater density from salinity and vice versa with unprecedented accuracy.

A coupled model has been developed to study the interaction between the ocean and the Antarctic ice sheet. Simulations for present-day climate yield realistic ice-shelf melt rates and a grounding line position close to the observed state. In a warm-water-inflow scenario, the model suggests a substantial thinning of the ice shelf and a local retreat of the grounding line. The coupled model yields a stronger increase in ice-shelf basal melt rates than a fixed-geometry control experiment.