Rigid or deformable bodies moving in the presence of steeply or continuously stratified fluid layers are encountered in a broad range of situations, both in geophysical and engineering contexts. Typical examples are plankton, marine snow or Lagrangian buoys drifting in oceans, plumes ascending through the Earth’s mantle, submarine vehicles moving close to pycnoclines, drops rising during oil spills, bubble-induced removal of impurities during steel elaboration or gravity-driven encapsulation processes. Depending on the problem, discontinuities or inhomogeneous layers deeply impact the wake, energy consumption, settling rate or dispersion characteristics of inert or self-propelled bodies and living micro-organisms. Immiscible fluids introduce an additional level of complexity, owing to effects of the viscosity contrast and the capillary-to-buoyancy force ratio. This very rich variety of configurations is at the center of this scienfitic event.

The aim of this Symposium is to bring together internationally renowned scientists from all horizons to foster exchanges and strengthen cross-disciplinary work among physicists, applied mathematicians, geophysicists, oceanographers, engineers and marine biologists. The Symposium will give the opportunity to appreciate and compare the various approaches that have been recently followed or are currently developed, thus giving a global overview of the most significant advances in the field. It will also help identify the main open issues and research pathways for the future.