Deep and bottom water masses are a key component of the global climate system and are responsible for ocean-ice-atmosphere feedbacks on timescales from decades to millennia. Originated from polar regions, these waters spread into all ocean basins, ventilating the deep ocean, storing anthropogenic heat and carbon and redistributing nutrients. Yet our knowledge of these water masses remains limited, in part due to the diversity and complexity of the processes involved in their formation and spreading, but also due to the difficulties and cost of sampling at great depths.

This session invites contributions that address the formation, transport and mixing of deep and abyssal waters in any region of the ocean. Of notable interest are recent advances in observation and mapping techniques as well as in ocean modelling. This session aims to bring together the various disciplines focusing on these issues in order to devise a strategy for an effective joint study of the deep and abyssal ocean.