Southern Ocean Archives - State of the Planet

Weddell Seal Population May Be Much Lower Than Previously Thought

High-resolution satellite images allowed researchers to do a more comprehensive head count than ever before, and revealed patterns in the seals’ distribution.

by |February 4, 2022

Sidney Hemming, Paleoclimate Detective, Wins Guggenheim Fellowship

A Q&A with the geochemist, who plans to investigate a key climate interval millions of years ago.

by |April 13, 2021

How Ice Scouring in the Antarctic Disrupts Ecosystems

A recent study sheds light on how different types of species are affected by calving icebergs that tear apart the seafloor.

by |August 3, 2020

WOW-ing and RAW-ing in the South Pacific

Despite all the “Waiting on Weather” and “Running Away from Weather,” the expedition recovered exciting new sedimentary climate records in the remote and notoriously stormy Southern Ocean.

by |August 7, 2019
portrait of two scientists on board the joides resolution

New York City to Punta Arenas: The Beginning of Our Journey

Scientists aboard the R/V Joides Resolution prepare to set sail into the Southern Ocean.

by |June 28, 2019

Exploring Ocean Turbulence: 2016 Sloan Fellow Ryan Abernathey

When you examine the behavior of the global oceans closely—really closely, at scales smaller than 100 kilometers—eddies and jets and fronts start to appear. For Ryan Abernathey, this is where ocean physics gets interesting.

by |February 23, 2016

The Southern Ocean Is Breathing in Carbon Dioxide at a Healthy Rate

“In the last 10 years, we were afraid that the Southern Ocean was going to quit giving us a break from climate change. This study shows that it’s recovered its ability to take up carbon dioxide, and that’s good news.”

by |September 10, 2015
Image: Jaccard et al. (2013) Science

The Breathing Ocean

Far south and farther south, where winds are cold and screaming,
Waters churn, and deep below, old sediments lie dreaming.
A million years’ residuum of life and death and dust,
A library of ice ages reposed upon Earth’s crust.

by |May 2, 2014