Page 20: of Marine Technology Magazine (March 2018)

Credit: National Oceanography Centre

This shows the trajectories of virtual oil particles released from (a) the ? nal resting site of the

Sanchi (top-left; 14 January 2018 release) and (b) the vicinity of Amami-Oshima Island (bottom- right; 2 February 2018 release). For both panels, the colors indicate when particles are projected to reach particular areas, from deep red for mid-January, through to magenta for mid-April. For the initial release from the resting site of the Sanchi, particles were found to enter the Kuroshio

Current, and to reach both the north and south coasts of Japan, including the Greater Tokyo Area.

From this new release near Amami-Oshima, particles both travel along the south coast of Japan as before, but additionally are transported southwest around the Ryukyu Island chain towards

Taiwan. The land mask colors indicate human habitation, with lighter colors marking areas with high population density. mesoscale swirling features which are caused by turbulence in to hundreds of miles. These structures, which include eddies, the ocean. Over the past decade or so, as computational power play many different functions in the ocean. For example, ed- and data storage has increased exponentially, eddy resolving dies capture water masses at certain locations and transport ocean models have become more widespread. them to another, and can also trap nutrient rich water which

Durgadoo explains that in ocean modeling, size matters. locally promotes biological activity. So, in order for ocean “Oceanographers generally speak of scales in space and models to achieve realism at these scales, eddies and other time,” he says. “Spatially, processes in the ocean occur at structures need to be represented.

scales ranging from millimeters to thousands of kilometers, “This is not to say that models that do not simulate these and temporarily up to several centuries.” structures are useless,” adds Durgadoo. “One must understand

The word mesoscale refers to structures on the order of tens and appreciate the usefulness of models within their limits.”

March 2018 20 MTR

MTR #2 (18-33).indd 20 MTR #2 (18-33).indd 20 2/20/2018 3:33:34 PM2/20/2018 3:33:34 PM