The ocean's role in climate involves a rich tapestry of physical and biogeochemical processes. Water-mass transformation analyses, which exploit fundamental understanding of the ocean’s layering, are a prominent and promising means to disentangle and quantify leading processes. This session is aimed to disseminate and stimulate such analyses across oceanographic disciplines.

Water mass transformation analyses assess the state and evolution of water masses, defined as ocean layers, in combination with the driving forces of ocean circulation. By framing ocean circulation as moving layers the framework complements Eulerian and Lagrangian approaches. It has traditionally been used to analyze the steady-state overturning circulation. However, recent advances have allowed for applications of this framework to understand climate variability and the interplay of the overturning circulation and origin and fate of biogeochemical tracers. As such, the water mass transformation framework weaves together ocean dynamics, thermodynamics, biogeochemical processes, and interactions with the atmosphere, cryosphere and solid Earth.

We welcome studies that utilize water-mass analyses and the water-mass transformation framework to further our understanding of the ocean’s role in the climate system. This includes efforts to better understand processes that contribute to water mass formation, such as (sub)mesoscale air-sea fluxes or interior ocean mixing, and that have a broader perspective on water masses. We especially welcome frontier interdisciplinary applications that analyze climate variability or combine physics with biogeochemistry through water mass analyses.

Solicited speaker: Sjoerd Groeskamp