oceans3
-
Drilling the Seabed Below Earth’s Most Powerful Ocean Current
Starting this month, scientists aim to study the Antarctic Circumpolar Current’s past dynamics by drilling into the seabed in some of the planet’s remotest marine regions.
-
You Asked: Why Do We Know More About the Moon Than Our Own Oceans?
An Earth Institute oceanographer answers this deep question from a reader as part of our Earth Month Q&A on Instagram.
-
Carbon Lurking in Deep Ocean Threw Ancient Climate Switch, Say Researchers
A million years ago, a longtime pattern of alternating glaciations and warm periods dramatically changed, when ice ages suddenly became longer and more intense. Scientists have long suspected that this was connected to the slowdown of a key Atlantic Ocean current system that today once again is slowing. A new study of sediments from the…
-
Every (Fifth) Breath We Take: Friends of Phytoplankton and Why They Matter
Tiny microbes called phytoplankton live beneath the ocean’s surface, producing oxygen that is essential to human survival. A new study sheds light on how these all-important diatoms survive and thrive under difficult conditions.
-
Photo Essay: How High Could Seas Rise?
Columbia scientists recently visited the Caribbean island of Barbados, whose fossilized coral reefs contain an exquisite record of how the ocean has risen and fallen in the past.
-
How High Can Seas Rise? On a Tropical Isle, the Answers Are Not Always Obvious.
To help predict the future of sea level rise, scientists are studying ancient corals on the island of Barbados.
-
Exploring the Microbiome of an Ocean Bacteria
Braving the high seas and a curious shark, a team of scientists taps into the secret social life of a microbe that’s crucial for marine ecosystems.
-
Ocean Sediments Off Pacific Coast May Feed Tsunami Danger
Tightly packed sediments help the Cascadia Subduction Zone generate large earthquakes, and could boost its ability to trigger a large tsunami.
-
Iron Chemistry Matters for Ocean Carbon Uptake
An interdisciplinary team of scientists has discovered that, contrary to general scientific belief, iron in nondissolved particle form can stimulate phytoplankton growth, and that the chemical form that particulate iron takes is critical to ocean photosynthesis.
