Chemistry
Pteropods are Ptough: How one of the ocean’s most fragile creatures may cope with climate change
Climate change, due to the increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide from fossil fuel burning, is arguably the most important issue facing our planet. One of the most detrimental changes already in progress is the shifting pH of the world’s oceans, known as ocean acidification. Although the speed with which the planet is changing does not […]
Autonomous Under-ICE Vehicles
Seafloor exploration in areas of thick ice coverage has many obstacles. With careful planning and modifaction of AUV design and recovery methods, explorers are able to map and study the Gakkel Spreading Ridge 4000 meters below the thick Arctic Ice Pack. Anne M. HartwellHello, welcome to Oceanbites! My name is Annie, I’m a marine research […]
Deep Iron: Good for the Ocean’s Bones
: Iron isn’t just good for your body – it’s good for the ocean, too. While many studies focus on external sources of iron to the global ocean, Fitzsimmons et al. investigated iron sources coming from deep hydrothermal vents along midocean ridges, and how they might disperse iron and other metals vast distances through the […]
Out of sight, but not out of mind: human created chemicals persist deep in the Arctic Ocean
Human created chemicals can be “too good” at their job, remaining persistent and/or toxic in the environment, well beyond the life span of their commercial use. Read on to explore how DDT was found at depths up to 2500 m in the Arctic Ocean by a team from Stockholm University. Anna RobuckI am a third […]
Fireproofing the Arctic
Chemicals that are stable enough for our everyday use are often remarkably stable in the natural environment as well. This poses a problem because these chemicals can travel far from sources and end up in pristine environments like the Arctic. In the study described here, researchers from Germany and China joined forces to measure one […]
After the Phase Out: Can Banning Toxic Chemicals Rescue Pilot Whales?
When it comes to persistent pollutants, all roads lead to the ocean. Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) is a chemical that has recently gained attention due to its toxic effects and widespread presence in drinking water. PFOS from human products has also become widespread in ocean waters and the creatures who live in them. PFOS was banned […]
Pollutants produced by poriferans: using genetics to fill in blanks about sponge chemical production
Although its easy to mistake a sponge for a furry looking rock, these invertebrates and the microbes that inhabit them have some surprising chemical abilities. Anna RobuckI am a third year PhD student at the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography in the Lohmann Lab. My current research interests include environmental chemistry, water […]
Dawn of the age of Aquarius…total alkalinity measurements
While not as exciting as the new era of peace predicted by 5th Dimension, it is pretty cool that scientists can measure ocean chemistry from space. The marvels of modern technology, amiright? Eric OrensteinEric is a PhD student at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. His research in the Jaffe Laboratory for Underwater Imaging focuses on […]
The Bipolar See-Saw: Dansgaard-Oeschger Events and the Antarctic Climate
Within large timescales of glacial and interglacial periods, mini, rapid climate shifts may occur thanks to oceanic circulation processes and balancing global ocean budgets. The events in question originate in the North Atlantic; but, how do they affect the Antarctic? Zoe GentesZoe has an M.S. in Oceanography and a B.S. in Geologic Oceanography from URI, […]
Eat Organic at Your Local Gyre Margin
Paper: Letscher, Robert T., et al. 2016. Nutrient budgets in the subtropical ocean gyres dominated by lateral transport. Nature Geoscience, v.9: 815–819 If you were a marine organism looking for some grub, where could you find something nutritious? Nutrients in the ocean accumulate in the bodies of living things, which tend to sink to deeper waters […]
Beyond CO2: Chemical Consequences of Our Love Affair with Fossil Fuels
Our world relies heavily on the burning of biological materials such as wood or fossil fuels to harness energy. While we all know that carbon dioxide (CO2) is a harmful byproduct of burning fuel, it’s not the only chemical formed during this process. These chemical byproducts may play a bigger and more complex role in […]
Not better together: complex pollutant soup spells trouble for marine phytoplankton
A group of international researchers have found that marine phytoplankton communities are susceptible to impairment from complex mixtures of organic pollutants found in oceanic environments. Anna RobuckI am a third year PhD student at the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography in the Lohmann Lab. My current research interests include environmental chemistry, water […]
What’s in the Hair of a Polar Bear?
The accumulation of toxic methylmercury is a serious threat to wildlife all over the world – especially top predators in polar regions, like polar bears. Young polar bears are often the most vulnerable to detrimental effects of pollutants. To learn more about levels of mercury in polar bear cubs and their mothers, scientists measured total […]
Spawning Under the Influence: Drugs and Toxins Found in Salmon
You may think you’re familiar with the side effects of most common medications, but there are other, hidden side effects occurring beneath the surfaces of our oceans, lakes, and rivers. In this study, researchers brought these side effects to light by measuring a wide range of pharmaceuticals, drugs, and other manmade chemicals, in fish from […]
Lead Pollution in Antarctic Waters: Have We Cleaned Up Our Act?
Researchers traveled to the far reaches of Antarctica to determine whether lead levels there have declined since humans started cleaning up their act by halting lead emissions. They found that global warming might be negating some of the good we’ve done, as melting glaciers could release stored natural and industrial lead into the ocean. Carrie […]
Fueling Science with Science (& hydrothermal fluid)
Wouldn’t it be wicked cool if scientists could overcome the obstacle of power limitation by plugging their instruments directly into the sea floor? Now they can by using thermoelectric converters to take advantage of the Seebeck effect at hydrothermal vent fields! Anne M. HartwellHello, welcome to Oceanbites! My name is Annie, I’m a marine research […]
Whale earwax: a hearing aid & time capsule
How is whale earwax essential to whales, and how can it help whale conservation? Read more to find out! Megan ChenI graduated with a Masters of Coastal & Marine Management from the University of Akureyri in Iceland, and am currently working at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History in Ocean Education. I am […]
Please Pass the Plastic
Tiny shards and fibers of plastic termed “microplastics” accumulate in seafood with unknown consequences for human health. Now, they’re turning up in a product even more difficult to avoid: Researchers in Shanghai recently found microplastics in table salts bought from supermarkets across China. Carrie McDonoughI am the founder of oceanbites, and a postdoctoral fellow in […]
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 that there is no definitive answer (yet). A group of WHOI scientists present a mechanism and environment where organic compounds can be formed from inorganic ones via abiotic production. The plausibility of their suggestion is […]
Tiny ocean creatures play a big role in the global fate of toxic pollutants
Scientists on the “biggest ever expedition on global change” studied the tiniest creatures in the ocean to learn about their role in accumulating and distributing toxic pollutants in the world’s oceans. Carrie McDonoughI am the founder of oceanbites, and a postdoctoral fellow in the Higgins Lab at Colorado School of Mines, where I study poly- […]
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