‘Fingerprints’ of Ancient Weather Conditions
When a coastal tide rolls out, it can reveal beautiful ripples in the temporarily exposed sand. These same undulating patterns can also be seen in…
Oceanography
Scientists Reveal How Phytoplankton Survive in Nutrient Deficient Ocean Gyres
Subtropical gyres are huge, sustained currents spanning thousands of kilometers across the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, where very little grows. With nutrients in short supply,…
New Blood-Red Species of Octocoral Discovered in Panama
A study in the journal Bulletin of Marine Science describes a new, blood-red species of octocoral found in Panama. The species in the genus Thesea…
Carbon Filled Oceans Affect Tiny But Important Organism
They’re impossible to see with the naked eye. They’re difficult to pronounce. But coccolithophores, a single-celled plankton, have an outsized effect on oceans due to…
Landsat 8 Views Striking Patterns of Blue and Green in the Chukchi Sea
Regardless of the amount of winter ice cover, the waters off of the Alaskan coast usually come alive each spring with blooms of phytoplankton. These…
New Approach Helps Autonomous Underwater Vehicles Explore
Observing the world’s oceans is increasingly a mission assigned to autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) — marine robots that are designed to drift, drive, or glide…
Thawing Permafrost is Changing Arctic and Subarctic Lakes and Ponds
As ice the melts, the organic carbon found in permafrost is being released once again after ages of confinement in the soil. It is making…
Researchers Shed Light on the Mysterious Lives of Narwhals
Narwhals are some of the most elusive creatures in the ocean, spending most of their lives in deep water far from shore. But research being…
New Aluminum Batteries Increase the Range of UUVs Tenfold
New batteries that “drink” seawater could power long-range underwater vehicles, giving UUVs a tenfold increase in range over traditional lithium-ion batteries used for the same…
MIT Study Shows Tiny Plankton Have a Big Effect on the Ocean’s Carbon Storage
New research from MIT and Bristol University reveal that microscopic, mixotrophic organisms may have a large impact on the ocean’s food web and the global…
Temperature of Ancient Seas May Shape Global Climate
In a newly published study, scientists from Yale University detail the differences in ocean temperatures over the last 5 million years by creating a historical…
GRACE Satellites Provide New Way to Track Ocean Currents from Space
Scientists have developed a new way to use satellite measurements to track changes in Atlantic Ocean currents. The finding opens a path to better monitoring…
2015 El Niño Appears Likely to Equal the Event of 1997-98
NASA scientists continue to monitor and study this year’s El Niño, which appears likely to equal the event of 1997-98 – the strongest El Niño…
The Unintended Consequences of Geoengineering a Cooler Atmosphere
In a newly published study, scientists from MIT reveal unintended consequences of an idea to stimulate ocean phytoplankton growth in order to geoengineer a cooler…
Phytoplankton Are Extremely Sensitive to Changing Levels of Desert Dust
A newly published study shows that phytoplankton are extremely sensitive to changing levels of desert dust, revealing that the intensity of desert storms may affect…
Impact of Ocean Acidification on Phytoplankton Communities
A newly published study from MIT and colleagues shows that ocean acidification may cause dramatic changes to phytoplankton communities, recealing that many species may die…
NASA Study Reveals Oceans Temporarily Hide Global Warming
A newly published NASA study shows that the recent extra heat from greenhouse gases has been trapped in the waters of the Pacific and Indian…
Antarctic Ice Shelves Rapidly Thinning, Study Reveals 18 Percent Decrease in Thickness
New research shows that the Antarctic ice shelves are rapidly thinning, revealing an eighteen percent decrease in thickness over the course of roughly 20 years….