Mediterranean Sea
‘Out of Sight’ Can’t Mean ‘Out of Mind’
Surface marine debris and microplastic pollution has received more attention recently—which is great—but there’s another garbage problem we are only starting to understand. Deep in the dark, discarded items litter the sea floor, like dust-bunnies swept along by currents and are collecting at rates previously underestimated. Click here to read more! Andrea SchlunkI am a […]
Just breathe…OR NOT: Mercury from hydrothermal vents in bubbles and the air
Mercury is a toxic element that can accumulate in marine organisms, including fish we eat. But how does mercury into marine environments? Here we talk about the findings from Bagnato et al., who found lots of mercury coming from hydrothermal systems, and that it could transfer from the water to the air! Laura ZinkeI am […]
Making potable water safe for the seafloor
SWRO desalinization is a great way to get potable water. Unfortunately its production results in a high salinity low nutrient discharge that impacts the benthic communities. This study shows how a simple mitigation effort can reverse damage from discharge in just months! Anne M. HartwellHello, welcome to Oceanbites! My name is Annie, I’m a marine […]
Activity at one end of a migration affects fitness at the other
Effectively managing migratory species requires an understanding of what impacts them along their entire migratory route. This paper evaluates how sea turtles reproducing in Greece are affected by their choice of foraging grounds, which can be some distance from their nesting beaches. Virginia SchutteI just finished my graduate education in the Odum School of Ecology […]
Fight of the Century: CO2 vs. Calcifying Phytoplankton
From the very first sentence of the abstract, these scientists make clear they are not messing around, “Ocean acidification is a result of the uptake of anthropogenic CO2 from the atmosphere into the ocean and has been identified as a major environmental and economic threat.” In other words, humans are causing ocean acidification and the […]
From Your Sofa to the Sea
Oceanographers from Spain have measured several commonly used (and potentially harmful) organophosphate ester flame retardants in the air over the Mediterranean and Black Seas. What does it mean for the environment? We’re only just beginning to find out. Carrie McDonoughI am the founder of oceanbites, and a postdoctoral fellow in the Higgins Lab at Colorado […]
First evidence of deep explosive volcanic activity at the Marsili Seamount
The Marsili Seamount is the largest volcanic complex in the Mediterranean area and Europe. Previously thought to have last erupted between 100,000 and 1 million years ago, new evidence suggests the latest eruption was only 3 thousand years ago. Additionally, that eruption was explosive and deep (500-800 meters below sea level), resulting in several tephra […]
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 […]
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