Barrels of Caustic Waste Found Off California
wastes, chemical wastes, refuse and garbage, military explosives and radioactive wastes, according to the EPA.A pair of Scripps-led seafloor surveys in 2021 and 2023 identified thousands of objects, including hundreds of discarded military munitions. The number of barrels on the seafloor remains unknown.Sediments in the area are heavily contaminated with the pesticide DDT, a chemical banned in 1972 now known to harm humans and wildlife. Scant records from this time period suggest DDT waste was largely pumped directly into the ocean.Gutleben said she and her co-authors didn’t initially set out to solve
Viridien Kicks Off Seismic Imaging for Utsira North OBN Survey
, including the latest proprietary time-lag full-waveform inversion (TLFWI) technology, to deliver unprecedented seismic images of this region.As a result, Utsira North OBN will enhance resolution of the region’s complex geological intervals, illuminating how deep-seated faults help dictate sediment distribution and, in turn, clarifying the presence of reservoir facies and prospective new targets, according to Viridien.“Viridien’s imaging and licensing of the Utsira North OBN multi-client data reaffirms our long-term commitment to the NCS and our technological leadership in the
Oceanology International Returns to 2026 ExCeL Conference
;s ocean engineering, technology and science communities from more than 80 countries.COAST will further enhance the traditionally diverse Oceanology International (Oi) program, across both the exhibition and conference, by highlighting breakthrough developments in coastal protection, erosion control, sediment transport analysis, shoreline stabilization, and climate adaptation that support sustainable coastal development and ecosystem protection.Awarded the title of RX UK Show of the Year in 2024, the next edition in the 55-year history of the biennial event will demonstrate how Oi continues to evolve
Nortek Launches Generation 2 Vector Velocimeter
processing improve the instrument’s precision for agiven power consumption, making longer deployments possible on the same amount ofbattery power.A short-range echosounder has also been added, enabling users to image structures in thewater column. This is especially useful to those investigating sediment transport or changesin bottom morphology
Seabed Mining: Defining Serious Harm
a Mining Code which aims to prevent “serious harm” to the environment. However, there is currently no agreed operational definition of the term.The researchers considered factors such as the areas of seabed disturbed directly by the mining footprint of nodule extraction, disturbance from the sediment plumes created by nodule collectors near the seabed or in the water column, release of chemicals from the seabed and discharge of the processing waste into the water column.They also considered life-history characteristics of the organisms potentially affected, including features such as the potential
Anthropocene Markers
encircled the globe after the first nuclear weapons tests was considered the leading geological marker for a new geological epoch, the Anthropocene, the time when human impact on the earth became profound.Geologists have been able to measure a distinctive spike in the concentration of plutonium in ocean sediments from the US tests in the Marshall Islands in the 1940s and 1950s.Plutonium is anthropogenic - it doesn't exist on its own in nature.Plutonium isotopes can remain in ocean sediments for thousands of years due to their long half-lives, and this week, researchers from Edith Cowan University (ECU)
Plutonium Levels in Sediments Remain Elevated 70 Years After Nuclear Tests
Researchers from Edith Cowan University (ECU) in Australia have confirmed plutonium levels in sediment up to 4,500 times greater than the Western Australian coastline.Three plutonium-based nuclear weapons tests were conducted at the Montebello Islands in the 1950's, which introduced radioactive contamination to the surrounding environment. The first nuclear test, coded Operation Hurricane, had a weapon's yield of some 25kT, and formed a crater in the seabed, while the second and third tests, dubbed Operation Mosaic G1 and G2, had weapons yields of around 15kT and 60kT, respectively.The three
OceanAlpha Hosts First Marine USV Demonstration in the Middle East
Side Scan Sonar, and Teledyne PDS software. With Trimble Centrepoint RTX signal correction, the system achieved 4 cm positioning accuracy, making it an ideal solution for complex offshore oil & gas and marine survey challenges. During dynamic trial, the vessel simultaneously executed seabed mapping, sediment analysis, underwater structure detection.Real-time data from these operations streamed to the indoor Remote Operation Centre (ROC), where attendees viewed synchronized displays of navigation paths, sonar scans, and seabed maps—demonstrating how the USV’s end-to-end workflow can enhance
NOC Expedition Marks 40 Years of Abyssal Science Project
a Met Office monitoring buoy that supports weather forecasting and ocean monitoring at the site, including measuring carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and upper ocean.The expedition will also do its more routine work recovering and deploying a wide range of scientific instrumentation to collect water and sediment samplers, physical and chemical sensors for the highest quality data. Ecological observations will be collected using baited experiments and remote seafloor imaging systems, all of which make testing new technologies possible as well as extending the crucial time series
August 2025
