geochemistry
Stuck on you (for millions of years): Organic matter on oceanic minerals
Organic matter makes up life, and also feeds it! There is a lot of organic matter buried in sediments worldwide, but for some reason it doesn’t all get eaten by starving microbes. Here we look at a study that used cutting edge techniques to examine some of this uneaten organic matter from deep-sea sediments, and […]
Sharkcano, a melting pot for biology
No, a Sharkcano is not a volcano that erupts sharks. IT IS WAY COOLER THAN THAT! It is a submarine volcano that hosts a diverse macro community in water that is much warmer and more acidic that the surrounding seawater. Read more to find out about this alien-esc ecosystem in the South Pacific Ocean. Anne […]
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 of labor between two functionally distinct bacteria. Abrahim El GamalAbrahim is a PhD student at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego where he studies marine chemical biology.
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 dissolved carbon dioxide to observe the unique responses of community members and their roles in the whole community response. Anne M. HartwellHello, welcome to Oceanbites! My name is Annie, I’m a marine research scientist who […]
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 […]
Balancing Act: Marine Sediments Reveal Past Carbon Cycle Fluxes
Researchers conducted a study that looks at marine sediment records to investigate sediment weathering patterns over long-term climate cycles. Somewhat surprisingly, it appears the Earth may have a mechanism for balancing variations in weathering during these glacial-interglacial cycles and mediating carbon cycle fluxes. Zoe GentesZoe has an M.S. in Oceanography and a B.S. in Geologic […]
Happy Samples
How frustrating it must be to spend a bunch of money to get to the field, only to find out the samples collected were contaminated. This piece reviews the effort of a group of science engineers from China to eliminate sample contamination when collecting hydrothermal vent fluids in shallow waters. Anne M. HartwellHello, welcome to […]
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