Oceanography News
Courtesy of Science Daily

Paleontologists find extinction rates higher in open-ocean settings during mass extinctions Researchers have uncovered a strikingly pattern for ancient mass extinctions: extinctions rates during mass extinctions were significantly higher in open-ocean-facing settings than in epicontinental seas, indicating that open-ocean settings were more susceptible to the mass-extinction-causing agents. Publ.Date : Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:00:00 EST Oceans' uptake of human-made carbon may be slowing The oceans play a key role in regulating climate, absorbing more than a quarter of the carbon dioxide that humans put into the air. Now, the first year-by-year accounting of this mechanism during the industrial era suggests the oceans are struggling to keep up with rising emissions -- a finding with potentially wide implications for future climate. Publ.Date : Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST Mysteriously warm times in Antarctica A new study of Antarctica's past climate reveals that temperatures during the warm periods between ice ages (interglacials) may have been higher than previously thought. The latest analysis of ice core records suggests that Antarctic temperatures may have been up to 6°C warmer than the present day. Publ.Date : Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST Research challenges for understanding landscape changes identified Nine research challenges and four research initiatives that are poised to advance the study of how Earth's landscapes change were unveiled by the National Research Council. Publ.Date : Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST How much water does the ocean have? The calculation of variations in the sea level is relatively simple. It is by far more complicated to then determine the change in the water mass. A team of geodesists and oceanographers have now, for the first time succeeded in doing this. The researchers were able to observe short-term fluctuations in the spatial distribution of the ocean water masses. Their results are, amongst others, important for improved climate models. Publ.Date : Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:00:00 EST Sea stars bulk up to beat the heat A new study finds that a species of sea star stays cool using a strategy never before seen in the animal kingdom. The sea stars soak up cold sea water into their bodies during high tide as buffer against potentially damaging temperatures brought about by direct sunlight at low tide. Publ.Date : Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST Optical properties of the Antarctic system and new radiation information The Antarctic system comprises of the continent itself, Antarctica, and the ocean surrounding it, the Southern Ocean. In a new study, measurements were made during three Austral summers to study the optical properties of the Antarctic system and to produce radiation information for additional modeling studies. Publ.Date : Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST Penguins and sea lions help produce new atlas Recording hundreds of thousands of individual uplinks from satellite transmitters fitted on penguins, albatrosses, sea lions, and other marine animals, the Wildlife Conservation Society and BirdLife International have released the first-ever atlas of the Patagonian Sea -- a globally important but poorly understood South American marine ecosystem. Publ.Date : Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST Lab machine to study glacial sliding related to rising sea levels created Researchers have created a glacier in a freezer that could help scientists understand how glaciers slide across their beds. That could help researchers predict how climate change accelerates glacier sliding and contributes to rising sea levels. Publ.Date : Sun, 15 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST Cave study links climate change to California droughts California experienced centuries-long droughts in the past 20,000 years that coincided with the thawing of ice caps in the Arctic, according to analysis of stalagmites from a cave in the Sierra Nevada. Publ.Date : Sun, 15 Nov 2009 05:00:00 EST Warmer means windier on Lake Superior, world's biggest lake Rising water temperatures are kicking up more powerful winds on Lake Superior, with consequences for currents, biological cycles, pollution and more on the world's largest lake and its smaller brethren. Publ.Date : Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST Greenland ice cap melting faster than ever Satellite observations and a state-of-the art regional atmospheric model have independently confirmed that the Greenland ice sheet is losing mass at an accelerating rate, according to a new study. This mass loss is equally distributed between increased iceberg production, driven by acceleration of Greenland's fast-flowing outlet glaciers, and increased meltwater production at the ice sheet surface. Publ.Date : Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST Bizarre lives of bone-eating worms It sounds like a classic horror story -- eyeless, mouthless worms lurk in the dark, settling onto dead animals and sending out green "roots" to devour their bones. In fact, such worms do exist in the deep sea. They were first discovered in 2002 by researchers at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, who were using a robot submarine to explore Monterey Canyon. But that wasn't the end of the story. After "planting" several dead whales on the seafloor, a team of biologists recently announced that as many as 15 different species of boneworms may live in Monterey Bay alone. Publ.Date : Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST Earth's Early Ocean Cooled More Than A Billion Years Earlier Than Thought The global ocean covering the Earth 3.4 billion years ago was far cooler than has been thought, according to researchers who analyzed isotope ratios in rocks formed on that ancient ocean floor. Instead of a hot primordial soup, much more tepid temperatures prevailed. Cooler temperatures may have had effects on the evolution of the early atmosphere and could have opened the door to an earlier spread of photosynthetic life forms across the planet. Publ.Date : Thu, 12 Nov 2009 02:00:00 EST A Glimpse At The Earth's Crust Deep Below The Atlantic Long-term variations in volcanism help explain the birth, evolution and death of striking geological features called oceanic core complexes on the ocean floor, says a geologist. Publ.Date : Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST Antarctica glacier retreat creates new carbon dioxide store; has beneficial impact on climate change Large blooms of tiny marine plants called phytoplankton are flourishing in areas of open water left exposed by the recent and rapid melting of ice shelves and glaciers around the Antarctic Peninsula. This remarkable colonization is having a beneficial impact on climate change. As the blooms die back phytoplankton sinks to the sea-bed where it can store carbon for thousands or millions of years. Publ.Date : Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST California's Ancient Kelp Forest The kelp forests off southern California are considered to be some of the most diverse and productive ecosystems on the planet, yet a new study indicates that today's kelp beds are less extensive and lush than those in the recent past. Publ.Date : Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST Past Climate Of Northern Antarctic Peninsular Informs Global Warming Debate The seriousness of current global warming is underlined by a reconstruction of climate at Maxwell Bay in the South Shetland Islands of the Antarctic Peninsula over approximately the last 14,000 years, which appears to show that the current warming and widespread loss of glacial ice are unprecedented. Publ.Date : Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST Changing Arctic Affecting Air, Ocean, And Everything In Between Despite the fact that summer 2009 had more sea ice than in 2007 or 2008, scientists are seeing drastic changes in the region from just five years ago and at rates faster than anticipated. Publ.Date : Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST Seafloor Fossils Provide Clues To Climate Change Deep under the sea, a fossil the size of a sand grain is nestled among a billion of its closest dead relatives. Known as foraminifera, these complex little shells of calcium carbonate can tell you the sea level, temperature, and ocean conditions of Earth millions of years ago. That is, if you know what to look for. Publ.Date : Sun, 08 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST Are The Alps Growing Or Shrinking? The Alps are growing just as quickly in height as they are shrinking. This paradoxical result comes from a new study by a group of German and Swiss geoscientists. Due to glaciers and rivers, about exactly the same amount of material is eroded from the slopes of the Alps as is regenerated from the deep Earth's crust. The climatic cycles of the glacial period in Europe over the past 2.5 million years have accelerated this erosion process. Publ.Date : Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:00:00 EST Deep-sea Ecosystems Affected By Climate Change Deep-sea ecosystems occupying 60 percent of the Earth's surface could be vulnerable to the effects of global warming, warn scientists. Publ.Date : Tue, 03 Nov 2009 23:00:00 EST African Desert Rift Confirmed As New Ocean In The Making In 2005, a gigantic, 35-mile-long rift broke open the desert ground in Ethiopia. At the time, some geologists believed the rift was the beginning of a new ocean as two parts of the African continent pulled apart, but the claim was controversial. Now, scientists from several countries have confirmed that the volcanic processes at work beneath the Ethiopian rift are nearly identical to those at the bottom of the world's oceans. Publ.Date : Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST Mapping Nutrient Distributions Over The Atlantic Ocean Large-scale distributions of two important nutrient pools -- dissolved organic nitrogen and dissolved organic phosphorus have been systematically mapped for the first time over the Atlantic Ocean in a new study. The findings have important implications for understanding nitrogen and phosphorus biogeochemical cycles and the biological carbon pump in the Atlantic Ocean. Publ.Date : Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST