Scientists Find Rare Window Where Carbon Sinks Quickly Into the Deep Ocean
Looking out across the Southern Ocean near Antarctica, I can see whales and seabirds diving in and out of the water as they feed on sea life in the lower levels of the food web. At the base of this food web are tiny phytoplankton – algae that grow at the ocean surface, taking up carbon from the atmosphere through photosynthesis, just as plants on land do.Because of their small size, phytoplankton are at the mercy of the ocean’s swirling motions. They are also so abundant that the green swirls are often visible from space.Typically, phytoplankton remain near the surface of the ocean. Some
Modeling Shows How Nuclear War Would Devastate the World’s Oceans
India and Pakistan, 27 to 47 billion tons of soot would be ejected into the upper atmosphere, and the resulting cooling would severely compromise shipping through northern Europe.Worse, the sudden drop in light and ocean temperatures would decimate marine algae, which are the foundation of the marine food web, creating a years-long ocean famine. While the whole ocean would be affected, the worst effects would be concentrated at higher latitudes, including all of Europe and especially in the Baltic states, where ocean light is already in short supply.The waters in the Arctic and North Atlantic would bear
Massive Fall of Deep-sea Dead Red Crabs ... What Does it Mean?
swarm ended up in the depths of the Pacific Ocean. This unexpected discovery will change the way scientists view how carbon is transferred from the atmosphere to the deep-ocean floor.A critical part of the Earth’s carbon cycle occurs in the ocean, where carbon recycling occurs through the marine food web. This discovery suggests that these mass crab falls supply a very large quantity of food to the area - an amount of carbon far greater than was expected for the whole year. Before the study, there was no knowledge that these crabs could fall to such depths and provide food to the region, as well
NOC-led Study Paves the Way for Future Climate Models
aim to inform us about how the world will respond to climate change caused by increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. A critical part of the Earth’s carbon cycle occurs in the ocean, where microscopic plants take up CO2 from the atmosphere and recycling of the carbon occurs through the marine foodweb. This ‘biological carbon pump’ contributes to keeping atmospheric CO2 levels about 50% lower than they would be if it didn’t exist, highlighting the importance to understand more about this area.The paper finds that model predictions of how the pump will respond to climate change
Wind Turbines Can Breathe New Life into Warming Seas
for development are “seasonally stratified”. David Attenborough has described these seasonal seas as some of the most biologically productive on the planet. While they only cover 7% of the ocean, they are estimated to account for somewhere between 10% and 30% of the life at the bottom of the food web.According to our new research, one byproduct of deep-sea wind farming is that the foundations of these floating turbines could help reverse the damaging effects of climate change on such seas.In seasonally stratified seas, the water is completely mixed during winter, but separates into layers in
URI Unveils Name of New Research Vessel
Dawn will support scientific studies such as monitoring ocean currents, seafloor surveys in earthquake-prone regions of the world, testing new technologies such as remote sampling platforms, tracking legacy and emerging ocean contaminants, conservation of marine resources such as fisheries, and food-web dynamics in the deep ocean. In addition, the ship will offer education and public engagement opportunities for teachers, undergraduate and graduate students and the public.GSO will invite the name competition finalists, winner, any immediate family members (if finalists are minors), representatives
Climate Change is Flooding the Arctic with Light – and New Species
cruise ships, cargo ships and research vessels. Ice and snow can almost entirely black out the water beneath it, but climate change is allowing more light to flood in.Artificial light in the polar nightLight is very important in the Arctic. The algae which form the foundation of the Arctic Ocean’s food web convert sunlight into sugar and fat, feeding fish and, ultimately, whales, polar bears and humans.At high latitudes in the Arctic during the depths of winter, the Sun stays below the horizon for 24 hours. This is called the polar night, and at the North Pole, the year is simply one day lasting six
EcoLight AZFP Buoy to Monitor Light and Under-Ice Zooplankton
Changes in the light field under the ice affect large-scale ecosystem structure and biochemical functioning of the Arctic marine environment. The consequences of changes in light penetration impact phytoplankton blooms and in-ice algal growth and this in turn impacts feeding opportunities throughout the food web.A key instrument integrated into the ABES is an ASL Environmental Sciences Acoustic Zooplankton Fish Profiler (AZFP) . This instrument provides high spatial and temporal resolution and can monitor the presence and abundance of zooplankton and fish within the water column by measuring acoustic
New Project Aims to Revolutionize Ocean Observations and Measurements
;improving imaging systems and image processing workflows so that machines can turn vast numbers of images into data about species, habitats and plastic pollution;producing optical primary productivity (plant growth) and multi-parameter optical sensors to measure energy entering the base of the food web and to investigate water quality; andcreating biogeochemical and bio-assay enabled lab-on-chip sensors and microcytometers to measure a large number of parameters including: nutrients, carbon dioxide, trace metals, bio-toxins, pollutants, single celled organisms and microplastics.The future impact
February 2024
