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8 April 2016
2,400 meters under the South Pacific
Today we are embarking on a research expedition to visit hydrothermal vents in the South Pacific. These particular deep sea vents are found about 1.5 miles (~2400 m) below sea level, nestled between the islands of Fiji, Tonga and Samoa. Like the first vents discovered off the Galapagos Islands, these vents are teeming with life, from microbial mats to snails, mussels, barnacles and fish. The snails and mussels dominate these vent sites, and are symbiotic with bacteria. During this expedition, our research will focus on better understanding these symbiotic relationships and how they are affected by natural and human-induced (i.e. anthropogenic) changes in their environment.
10 March 2016
Scientists develop model to predict coastal dead zones
Scientists have reported in a new study a first-of-its-kind approach for predicting where coastal “dead” zones are likely to appear around the globe. These low-oxygen zones, which can harm fish, other marine animals and humans, result from human activities on land as well as oceanic conditions.
10 April 2015
The surprising strength of ‘rainpower’
Torrential rains inside hurricanes might be acting as a control knob on these giant storms, reducing their intensity by as much as 30 percent, according to a new study.
26 March 2015
Shell-shocked: Ocean acidification likely hampers tiny shell builders in Southern Ocean
A new study shows a ubiquitous type of phytoplankton — tiny organisms that are the base of the marine food web – appears to be suffering from the effects of ocean acidification caused by climate change.
13 March 2015
Source to Sink (+ video)
Why are we studying the mountains by drilling into the seafloor?
25 February 2015
Drilling deep
We’re in the Indian Ocean currently drilling the deepest of a six hole transect across the middle of the Bengal submarine fan. The fan covers the bottom of the Bay of Bengal with sediments eroded from the Himalayas. We’ll be devoting almost three weeks of our eight-week International Ocean Discovery Program expedition to drilling at this site. Our target: to reach 1,500 meters (about a mile) depth. Drilling this deep is a major challenge when you are drilling into the seafloor, which just so happens to be more than 3,600 meters (about two miles) below sea level.
But why so deep? And why here?
5 February 2015
Shoving Off
This is the first in a series of dispatches from Lisa Strong, a video producer and education officer aboard the JOIDES Resolution, a scientific ocean drilling ship currently on a two-month research expedition in the Bay of Bengal.
19 December 2014
Electromagnetic imaging helps scientists locate underwater methane
A simple compound found in underwater structures could generate warmth below the ocean, inside homes, and in the atmosphere. The location of the compound, methane, determines whether it’s dangerous, welcome, or world-changing.
Now, a team from GEOMAR in Kiel, Germany and the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom has used electromagnetic images to more accurately identify and characterize a source of methane beneath the ocean floor.
1 December 2014
Mixing waters up in the Southern Ocean
The Southern Ocean encircles Antarctica and plays a key role in controlling the global climate. It is here that ocean currents return from the abyss to the surface, closing the global ocean overturning circulation. This circulation drives the poleward transport of heat, which is critical to the relatively mild weather in the United Kingdom. New research has for the first time identified a new process that contributes to this upwelling of abyssal water, a key component of the global overturning circulation.
29 September 2014
As expedition ends, scientists feel the pressure
Amy West is the science writer and outreach and education officer for the JOIDES Resolution, a drill ship operated by the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) that is on a two-month expedition studying the Izu-Bonin-Mariana Arc in the region where the Pacific Plate is descending under the Philippine Plate to form the Mariana Trench and the deepest point in the ocean–the Challenger Deep.
GeoSpace is a blog on Earth and space science, managed by AGU’s Public Information staff. The blog features posts by AGU writers and guest contributors on all sorts of relevant science topics, but with a focus on new research and geo and space sciences-related stories that are currently in the news.