Biogeochemistry

From Wastewater to Seahorses to the Medicine Cabinet

Pollution of metals could be getting into the tissue of seahorses--the very tissues that are used to make a special…

Biogeochemistry Climate Change

Do coral reefs help fight climate change?

Coral reefs are called the rainforests of the sea for their stunning biodiversity. But can they, like forests on land,…

Biogeochemistry

The Dirty Blizzard: how oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill reached the seafloor

Oil floats on water, yet oil spills are still devastating for marine life living on the seafloor. How does it…

Biogeochemistry

Why iron fertilization hasn’t worked

Fertilizing the ocean with iron to help algae store more carbon in the deep sea was once heralded as a…

Biogeochemistry

Dust detectives: tracing the origins of Antarctic ice core debris

Tiny dust particles punch above their weight by delivering nutrients to remote ecosystems. A new study uses the chemical fingerprint…

Biogeochemistry Microbiology Microbiome

Of whales and cows: the baleen whale microbiome revealed

Scientists sequenced the microbiomes of several baleen whales that are strict carnivores and found some startling similarities to the microbiomes…

Biogeochemistry Ecology Human impacts Restoration

Solving Big Dam Problems

The US has a lot of dams. Probably far more than you ever imagined possible. Many of these dams are…

Biogeochemistry geochemistry Microbiology

One to tango: a bacterium that does the work of two in the nitrogen cycle

Scientists report bacterial species capable of performing the two-step process of nitrification, traditionally thought to exist only as a division…

Biogeochemistry Ecology Geology

A Slick Study! Natural Oil Seeps and Chlorophyll

Oil seeps are naturally occurring sources of oil to the marine environment. This study looks at the impacts of oil…

Biogeochemistry

Sailing the Southern Ocean for science

Hear about my adventures living on an icebreaker on the Southern Ocean, deploying ocean robots to understand the chemistry and…

Biogeochemistry

Oil spill first responders: how tiny algae cultivate oil-degrading bacteria

After an oil spill, millions of oil-degrading bacteria are on the scene almost immediately. But how do they survive in…

Biogeochemistry Climate Change Ocean Acidification

Rapid changes in the Southern Ocean threaten ecosystems

Rapid acidification of the Southern Ocean could occur in the next 30 years with potentially huge impacts to local ecosystems.

Biogeochemistry

Estimating carbon sequestration from plankton poop

Copepod fecal pellets—plankton poop—transport carbon from the ocean surface to the deep where it is stored for thousands of years.…

Biogeochemistry

Ocean eddies suck carbon out of the atmosphere, thanks to plankton

When phytoplankton sink into the deep ocean, they take carbon with them, storing CO2 away from the atmosphere. This new…

Biogeochemistry

Microbes foil attempts to increase deep ocean carbon sequestration

Most carbon emitted to the atmosphere ends up in the ocean, much of it in organic molecules. While most is…

Biochemistry Biogeochemistry Biological oceanography Biology Climate Change Coral Ecology French Polynesia geochemistry Ocean Acidification

How a whole reef community’s response to OA is impacted by the individual responses of different players

Researchers from California used a unique ex situ experiment to monitor two near identical reef communities in different concentrations of…

Biogeochemistry Book Review Chemistry Developmental Biology geochemistry

What is the source of organic molecules in Von Damm vent fluids?

The origin of life is with out a doubt a fascinating topic of discussion and debate, intensified by the fact…

Biogeochemistry Geology Natural History Paleoceanography Sea-level Rise Volcanoes

A 2.5 billion year old story about iron in the ocean, told by a rock

New light has been shed on the possibility of an alternative iron sink than previous thought prior to the oxygenation…

Biogeochemistry Biology Ecology Microbiology

Time to rethink the role of ocean’s microbes?

Have you ever wondered what may live inside the tiniest drops of seawater? Global oceans are dominated by organisms we…

Biogeochemistry Coastal Management Ecology Hazards Human impacts Pollution

Out of sight, out of mind: The effect of gas & oil spills on deep-sea communities

When undersea wells blowout, toxic concentrations of hydrocarbons can be rapidly released into the environment. The media presents these blowouts…