http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/earth_climate/oceanography/ Oceanography news. Learn about ocean currents, coastal erosion, sea level rising and other topics in physical oceanography. en-us Wed, 25 Nov 2009 03:05:01 EST Wed, 25 Nov 2009 03:05:01 EST 60 http://www.sciencedaily.com/images/logosmall.gif http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/earth_climate/oceanography/ For more science articles, visit ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091115134132.htm 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. Wed, 25 Nov 2009 02:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091115134132.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091124174622.htm The annual rate of increase in carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels has more than tripled in this decade, compared to the 1990s, reports an international consortium of scientists, who paint a bleak picture of the Earth's future unless "CO2 emissions [are] drastically reduced." Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091124174622.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091124140957.htm The world's oceans are absorbing less carbon dioxide, a geophysicist has found after pooling data taken over the past 50 years. With the oceans currently absorbing over 40 percent of the CO2 emitted by human activity, this could quicken the pace of climate change, according to the study. Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091124140957.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091122095413.htm Biogeochemistry and geology and geophysics scientists have returned from Arctic expedition exploring methane hydrate deposits in the Beaufort Sea and spatial variation of sediment contribution to Arctic climate change. Mon, 23 Nov 2009 23:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091122095413.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091122161736.htm Understanding mixing in the ocean is of fundamental importance to modeling climate change or predicting the effects of an El Niño on our weather. Modern ocean models primarily incorporate the effects of winds and tides. However, they do not generally take into account the mixing generated by swimming animals. Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091122161736.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091122161740.htm Scientists have inventoried an astonishing abundance, diversity and distribution of deep sea species that have never known sunlight -- creatures that somehow manage a living in a frigid black world down to 5000 meters (three miles) below the ocean waves. Mon, 23 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091122161740.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091117161127.htm 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. Mon, 23 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091117161127.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091119141039.htm 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. Sun, 22 Nov 2009 05:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091119141039.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091116103447.htm 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. The system has an important part in the global climate due to its size, its high latitude location and the negative radiation balance of its large ice sheets. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091116103447.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091119194128.htm 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. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091119194128.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091118143211.htm 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. Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091118143211.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091118112419.htm 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. Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091118112419.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091112103419.htm 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. Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091112103419.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091116131831.htm 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. Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091116131831.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091110141840.htm 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. Sun, 15 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091110141840.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091110171741.htm 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. Sun, 15 Nov 2009 05:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091110171741.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091112141311.htm 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. Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091112141311.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091109194741.htm 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. Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091109194741.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091111130952.htm 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. Thu, 12 Nov 2009 02:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091111130952.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091112103411.htm 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. Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091112103411.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091109121117.htm 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. Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091109121117.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091111092049.htm 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. Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091111092049.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091106095636.htm 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. Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091106095636.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091106140757.htm 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. Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091106140757.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091106201613.htm 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. Sun, 08 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091106201613.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091105121207.htm 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. Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091105121207.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091102171559.htm Deep-sea ecosystems occupying 60 percent of the Earth's surface could be vulnerable to the effects of global warming, warn scientists. Tue, 03 Nov 2009 23:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091102171559.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091102172037.htm 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. Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091102172037.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091103112237.htm 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. Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091103112237.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091102111845.htm A rocket carrying the European Space Agency's Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity satellite blasted off successfully today. SMOS is the first-ever satellite to attempt to measure ocean salinity from space. It will provide global maps of soil moisture over land and surface salinity over the ocean. Mon, 02 Nov 2009 23:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091102111845.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091102121628.htm Scientists have discovered that interactions between iron supply, transported through the atmosphere from deserts, and large-scale oceanic circulation control the availability of a crucial nutrient, nitrogen, in the Atlantic. Their findings have potentially important implications for understanding global climate, both past and future. Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091102121628.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091028140043.htm Researchers are using a remotely operated vehicle and satellite-linked data loggers to learn more about turtle behavior in commercial fishing areas and to develop new ways to avoid catching turtles in fishing gear. This marks the first time an ROV has been used to follow turtles in the wild to learn about their behavior and how they interact with their habitat Fri, 30 Oct 2009 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091028140043.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091028112803.htm For the first time, a group of scientists working in the Kuril Islands off the east coast of Russia has documented the scope of tsunami-caused erosion and found that a wave can carry away far more sand and dirt than it deposits. Fri, 30 Oct 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091028112803.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091030095513.htm In October, the hydraulic benthic interactive sampler HyBIS made 10 dives over the Casablanca Seamount, a four-kilometer high seamount located some 300 miles west of Morocco. Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091030095513.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091029111907.htm A new European Earth observation satellite will be launched in the early hours of Monday November 2 from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia. The European Space Agency Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity satellite will measure moisture levels in the Earth's soils and the saltiness of the world's oceans from space for the very first time. Thu, 29 Oct 2009 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091029111907.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091028192617.htm An international team of environmental scientists has shown that sea-level rise in North Carolina is accelerating, a jump that appears to have occurred during a time of industrial change. Thu, 29 Oct 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091028192617.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091028112622.htm The United Kingdom's deepest diving Autonomous Underwater Vehicle, Autosub6000, has been put through its paces during an extremely successful engineering trials cruise on the RRS Discovery, Sept. 27 to Oct. 17, 2009. Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091028112622.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091023163509.htm While most people head to Myrtle Beach for vacation, a group of scientists have been hitting the famous South Carolina beach for years to figure out how to keep the sand from washing away. Their work is a model for beach preservation that can apply elsewhere. Wed, 28 Oct 2009 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091023163509.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091026162546.htm Relatively minor increases in ocean acidity brought about by high levels of carbon dioxide have significant detrimental effects on the growth, development, and survival of hard clams, bay scallops, and Eastern oysters, according to researchers. Wed, 28 Oct 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091026162546.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090917161736.htm Predicting harmful algal blooms, or HABs, in the Great Lakes is now a reality as NOAA announces an experimental HAB forecast system in Lake Erie. HABs produce toxins that may pose a significant risk to human and animal health through water recreation and may form scum that are unsightly and odorous to beach visitors, impacting the coastal economy. Wed, 28 Oct 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090917161736.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090902133639.htm Two related research expeditions by NOAA scientists to track the habitat preferences and movements of fish at Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary may help managers protect overfished species such as red snapper and grouper. Tue, 27 Oct 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090902133639.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090813142508.htm Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary is among the healthiest coral reef ecosystems in the tropical Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, according to NOAA researchers. Their report offers insights into the coral and fish communities within the sanctuary based on data collected in 2006 and 2007. Mon, 26 Oct 2009 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090813142508.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091020111420.htm Researchers are building the environmental equivalent of the ASX200 as a means of monitoring the health of Australian marine ecosystems. Mon, 26 Oct 2009 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091020111420.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091022141121.htm The expansion of oxygen minimum zones (OMZs) affects the processes by which carbon is captured and sequestered on the seafloor. Researchers describe the metagenome of an abundant but uncultivated microbe from a fjord on the coast of British Columbia, Canada that is silently helping to shape the ecology of OMZs worldwide. Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091022141121.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091022101702.htm The fossil remains of some of the first animals with shells, ocean-dwelling creatures that measure a few centimeters in length and date to about 520 million years ago, provide a window on evolution at this time, according to scientists. Their research indicates that these animals were larger than previously thought. Thu, 22 Oct 2009 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091022101702.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090824205526.htm A team of German and British scientists have used fossilised shark teeth to reconstruct the climate of the North Sea during the Palaeogene period, between 40 and 60 million years ago. The results suggest that the North Sea was for a brief period isolated from surrounding oceans, resulting in surface-water freshening and a significant reduction in the diversity of life. Tue, 20 Oct 2009 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090824205526.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091019123111.htm Scientists have produced the first preliminary predictions of the potential impact of climate change on the Australian seabed. Mon, 19 Oct 2009 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091019123111.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090930165036.htm NOAA and Norwegian researchers recently completed a comparative analysis of marine ecosystems in the North Atlantic and North Pacific to see what factors support fisheries production, leading to new insights that could improve fishery management plans and the ecosystems. Mon, 19 Oct 2009 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090930165036.htm