Oceanography
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May 22 | News
The
first global analysis of carbon stored in seagrasses has revealed a
surprising figure. While a typical terrestrial forest stores about
30,000 metric tons of carbon per square kilometer, most of which is in
the form of wood, coastal seagrasses can account for 83,000 metric tons
of carbon per square kilometer. Their global impact is significant as
well.
May 16 | News
Starting
this week, U.S. Navy divers will be part of a multinational effort near
Estonia to help clear the Baltic Sea of underwater mines left over from
as long ago as the First and Second World Wars. At the same time,
physicians are studying these divers and how gas molecules form in
humans who experience long periods deep underwater.
May 15 | News
According
to predictions made by climate researchers with the Alfred Wegener
Institute for Polar and Marine Research, the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf
fringing the Weddell Sea in Antarctica may start to melt rapidly in this
century and no longer act as a barrier for ice streams draining the
Antarctic Ice Sheet. They claim this finding refutes previous
assumptions that climate change would not affect the Weddell Sea.
May 9 | News
An
increase in plastic debris floating in a zone between Hawaii and
California is changing the environment of at least one marine critter,
scientists recently reported. Over the past four decades, the amount of
broken-down plastic has grown significantly in a region dubbed the
"Great Pacific Garbage Patch." Most of the plastic pieces are the size
of a fingernail.
May 2 | News
Different
versions of microengines have been developed, including devices that
could transport medications through the bloodstream. But until now no
one has ever shown that these devices—which are about 10 times smaller
than the width of a human hair—could help clean up oil spills.
Scientists are reporting successful testing of the first self-propelled
“microsubmarines” designed to pick up droplets of oil and transport
them.
Apr 25 | News
Seeking
out statistical techniques that had not previously been applied to
finding the current rate of sea level rise and the rates of ice sheet
melting, scientists in Canada have developed a new method to distinguish
sea-level fingerprints. The technique relies on the fact that the
historical pattern for each ice sheet is unique and is preserved.
Apr 19 | News
Seismologists
say last week's powerful earthquake off western Indonesia increased
pressure on the source of the devastating 2004 tsunami: a fault that
could unleash another monster wave sometime in the next few decades.
Apr 18 | News
Researchers
at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science are investigating whether
sound waves can be used to determine the size of oil droplets in the
subsea—knowledge that could help guide the use of chemical dispersants
during the cleanup of future spills.
Apr 17 | News
Research
led by scientists at the American Museum of Natural History shows that
ammonites—an extinct type of shelled mollusk that's closely related to
modern-day nautiluses and squids—made homes in the unique environments
surrounding methane seeps in the seaway that once covered America's
Great Plains. These findings show that mobile shelled mollusk stayed put
if conditions were right.
Apr 16 | News
To
the world's military leaders, the debate over climate change is long
over. They are preparing for a new kind of Cold War in the Arctic,
anticipating that rising temperatures there will open up a treasure
trove of resources, long-dreamed-of sea lanes and a slew of potential
conflicts.
