Marcel du Plessis

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About

Marcel du Plessis is a leading physical oceanographer whose research focuses on the critical role of the Southern Ocean in regulating global climate. His work centers on air-sea heat exchange, ocean mixing processes, and the dynamics of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, with a particular emphasis on understanding how these mechanisms influence sea surface temperatures and carbon uptake. Du Plessis’s most notable contribution, detailed in his highly cited 2025 paper “Southern Ocean summer warming is regulated by storm-driven mixing,” reveals that the persistent warm summer bias in climate models stems from an underrepresentation of how storms enhance vertical mixing, which in turn cools the ocean surface. This finding has profound implications for improving climate projections and our understanding of the Southern Ocean’s role as Earth’s primary heat sink. With his work already garnering significant attention—his 2025 study has accumulated 2 citations in its first year—du Plessis is establishing himself as a vital voice in climate science. His research not only corrects a long-standing model error but also provides a mechanistic framework for predicting how this critical region will respond to a warming world.