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Redtide

The increased frequency and intensity of oxygen-deprived "dead zones" along the world's coasts can negatively impact environmental conditions in far more than just local waters. In the March 12 edition of the journal Science, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science oceanographer Dr. Lou Codispoti explains that the increased amount of nitrous oxide (N2O) produced [...]

ScienceDaily (Mar. 11, 2010) — A three-year field program now underway is measuring carbon distributions and primary productivity in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean to help scientists worldwide determine the impacts of a changing climate on ocean biology and biogeochemistry. The study, Climate Variability on the East Coast (CliVEC), will also help validate ocean color satellite [...]

Scientists are gaining new insight into the mechanisms that generate huge, steep underwater waves that occur between layers of warm and cold water in coastal regions of the world's oceans. (Credit: iStockphoto/Hunor Tanko)

ScienceDaily (Mar. 7, 2010) — Scientists at the University of Rhode Island are gaining new insight into the mechanisms that generate huge, steep [...]

An extra-tall wave struck a cruise ship off the Mediterranean coast of Spain this week, claiming two lives and injuring one person on board. Though the wave may not qualify as a “rogue wave,” it could have been created by the same forces.

To officially be rogue, the wave’s height must be more than double the [...]

ScienceDaily (Mar. 4, 2010) — Scientists at Columbia's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory have found evidence of hydrothermal vents on the seafloor near Antarctica, formerly a blank spot on the map for researchers wanting to learn more about seafloor formation and the bizarre life forms drawn to these extreme environments.

A vent spews chemical fluids from the East [...]

Left: Macrotritopus defilippi in the aquarium; note the long thin arms characteristic of the species. Right: Macrotritopus defilippi swimming forward and mimicking the shape, speed, and behavior of flounder swimming. (Credit: Left: Photo by John Forsythe; Right: Photo by R. Hanlon)

ScienceDaily (Mar. 4, 2010) — On the open sand plains of the Caribbean seafloor, where [...]

Maps of the Gulf of Maine reveal the concentration of Alexandrium cysts buried in seafloor sediments, as detected by WHOI-led surveys in the fall of 1997, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009. Four of those surveys are shown. The cyst abundance in 2009 is higher than ever observed in these past surveys. Note also [...]

Huon Peninsula raised reef terraces. (Credit: Photo by John Pandolfi)

ScienceDaily (Mar. 2, 2010) — Fossil corals, up to half a million years old, are providing fresh hope that coral reefs may be able to withstand the huge stresses imposed on them by today's human activity.

Reef ecosystems were able to persist through massive environmental changes imposed [...]

Stephen Palumbi's team has found that some species of coral are better able to adapt to higher temperatures than others. (Credit: Courtesy of Stephen Palumbi)

ScienceDaily (Feb. 27, 2010) — Move, adapt or die. Those are the options marine plants and animals have in the face of climate change, said Stanford biologist Steve Palumbi, who has [...]

A vast iceberg which broke off the Antarctic continent this month could disrupt the world's ocean currents and weather patterns, scientists warn.

Australian researchers say the iceberg – the size of Luxembourg – could block an area that produces a quarter of the world's dense and very cold seawater.
They say a slowdown in the production of [...]