ocean processes

Highest tides for 18.6 years

‘Supermoon’ seen from Canary Wharf 2014

Many places along the UK coastline will experience the highest tide for 18.6 years between the 19th and 30th of September, as a result of the co-incidence of a series of astronomical factors. Watch a video of Professor Kevin Horsburgh explaining this using a football and a tennis ball.

Ocean stirring and plankton patchiness

Near-true colour MODIS satellite image showing a coccolithophore (phytoplankton) bloom in the Iceland Basin (credit: NEODAAS/PML)

Computer simulations performed by researchers at the National Oceanography Centre and the University of Glasgow show how oceanic stirring and mixing influence the formation and dynamics of plankton patches in the upper ocean.

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