Abstract
This virtual special issue of Deep-Sea Research II is the sixth volume of scientific papers arising from the Second International Indian Ocean Expedition (IIOE-2, Fig. 1). This diverse body of research from the Indian Ocean includes papers on physical, chemical and biological oceanography, with the latter covering trophic levels from phytoplankton to fish and benthic communities. This volume represents another important step toward achieving the overarching goal of IIOE-2, which is to “… advance our understanding of interactions between geologic, oceanic and atmospheric processes that give rise to the complex physical dynamics of the Indian Ocean region, and determine how those dynamics affect climate, extreme events, marine biogeochemical cycles, ecosystems and human populations” (Hood et al., 2015).