Paleoceanography
Rapid Reductions in North Atlantic Deep Water during the Peak of the Last Interglacial Period
North Atlantic deep water forms primarily in more extreme northern latitudes due to the colder, saltier water with a higher density. When this flow of water goes south it mixes with the cold Antarctic water and then redistributes into other parts of the world. As high latitude warming and ocean refreshing reduce water density, North […]
Hello Glaciers, Goodbye Winds!
With the intensification of glaciation in the northern hemisphere approximately 2.7 million years ago, the prominent westerly wind belts responded by shifting towards the equator based on evidence from sediment cores. But how exactly are scientists able to determine the position of the winds millions of years ago? The answer lies in proxies! Brian CaccioppoliI […]
We didn’t start the fire!… that changed the southeast Australian landscape 44 thousand years ago
A sediment core suggests that the large ecosystem changes that occurred in southeastern Australia were caused by the extinction of large grazers, not human-controlled fire use, which caused fire-prone forest vegetation to overtake the grassy landscape. Kari St.LaurentI received a Ph.D. in oceanography in 2014 from the Graduate School of Oceanography (URI) and am finishing […]
Reconstructing climate history from sediments in the Gulf of Taranto, Italy
What was the climate like in Southern Italy 10,000 years ago? This question and many more can be answered by collecting sediment from the seafloor. Understanding the types of sediment and where it all came from, and determining the age of deposition make it possible to reconstruct the history of regional climate. Brian CaccioppoliI am […]
Why lions can thank wildfires for the African Savanna
Sediment records show that wildfires caused the initial expansion of grasslands in Africa during the Miocene (8 million years ago) allowing the African Savanna to evolve into the spectacular ecosystem we know today. Kari St.LaurentI received a Ph.D. in oceanography in 2014 from the Graduate School of Oceanography (URI) and am finishing up a post-doc […]
Welcome to oceanbites!
I’m excited to announce the launch of oceanbites.org! Inspired by the successful and informative astrobites.org, oceanbites is a blog where current and classic papers related to the fields of oceanography and marine science will be highlighted and explained by graduate students and post doctoral researchers. The goal of oceanbites is to make cutting edge research accessible […]
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