The 48th Liege colloquium: submesoscale processes: mechanisms, implications, and new frontiers

The 48th International Liège Colloquium on Ocean Dynamics took place from the 23 to the 27 May, 2016, in the Academic Room of the University of Liège (Belgium). Every year, the Colloquium addresses a cutting-edge topic in Ocean Science with the goal to foster discussions and collaborations among scientists from all around the world. This edition aimed to advance our collective understanding of submesoscale processes, their mechanistic functioning, relevance, and implications across a range of oceanic disciplines. Discussions included observational, modeling, and theoretical approaches for elucidating submesoscale phenomena. This 48th edition was a success with 199 participants (Fig. 1 ) from 25 countries, 72 oral presentations, 8 keynote talks, and 143 posters, distributed over 7 topical sessions. All sessions are represented in the present topical collection of Ocean Dynamics. Multiscale interactions-energy cascade, impact of submesoscales on other scales The topical collection includes four papers from this session. Lozovatsky et al. (2017) present microstructure measurements on the North Carolina shelf and across the Gulf Stream front. The vertical eddy diffusivity is described from these measurements and parameterization of the diffusivity for various mesoscale dynamical conditions was proposed. Nagai and Clayton (2017) study nitrate interleaving structures in oligotrophic surface waters south of the Kuroshio