Oceanography

Antarctic Icebergs-- Hotspots Of Ocean Life

Global climate change is causing Antarctic ice shelves to shrink and split apart, yielding thousands of free-drifting icebergs in the nearby Weddell Sea. According to a new study in this week’s journal Science these floating islands of ice – some as large ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 21 2007 - 10:17pm

Finding The Truth About The Antarctic Ice Sheet

Using echo-sounding equipment to create images and maps of areas below the ocean floor, researchers have begun to unravel a new story about the Antarctic Ice Sheet. Images of areas below the Eastern Ross Sea, next to West Antarctica, provide evidence that ...

Article - News Staff - Jun 30 2007 - 12:16am

The Ocean Surface, A Whole World In Motion

Technical advances over the past 50 years have allowed improved knowledge to be gained of the properties of sea water at great depths. Yet the first centimetres of the ocean remain its least well known part. They are difficult to sample and study owing to ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 2 2007 - 9:36pm

Increased Algal Blooms Make Bad Boys Look Good

Finding a decent, honest mate is challenging enough without the added problem of reduced visibility caused by human-induced changes to the aquatic environment. Yet this is precisely the sort of dilemma female stickleback fish are facing in the Baltic Sea, ...

Article - News Staff - Jul 19 2007 - 12:13pm

Mid-Atlantic Ridge Turbulence Has Big Impact On Climate

More than a mile beneath the Atlantic’s surface, roughly halfway between New York and Portugal, seawater rushing through the narrow gullies of an underwater mountain range much as winds gust between a city’s tall buildings is generating one of the most tur ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 10 2007 - 4:05pm

World Ocean "Link" Discovered

Australian scientists have identified the missing deep ocean pathway – or ‘supergyre’ – linking the three Southern Hemisphere ocean basins in research that will help them explain more accurately how the ocean governs global climate. The new research confir ...

Article - News Staff - Aug 15 2007 - 3:04pm

Unified Model Of Sea Ice Permeability May Mean Better Global Warming Forecasts

A new study says that salt-saturated brine moving through floating sea ice follows “universal transport properties” and that this new understanding can help anticipate the effects of global warming on the polar oceans and the microbial communities existing ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 10 2007 - 4:03pm

Arctic Sea Ice: How Low Will It Go?

In 2007, Arctic summer sea ice reached its lowest extent on record- nearly 25% less than the previous low set in 2005. At the end of each summer, the sea ice cover reaches its minimum extent and what is left is what is called the perennial ice cover which ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 30 2007 - 11:41pm

Acidic Oceans Threat To Great Barrier Reef And Australia's Economy

Australia’s coral reefs, particularly the Great Barrier Reef, are national icons, of great economic, social, and aesthetic value. Tourism on the Great Barrier Reef alone contributes approximately $5 billion annually to the Australia’s economy. Income from ...

Article - News Staff - Oct 17 2007 - 10:21am

'Smart Dust' Mini-Machines Could Help Us Understand Ocean Currents

Tiny probes packed with instrumentation have been turned loose in a laboratory in France. The marble-sized devices are an important step on the road to long-anticipated miniaturized machines known as smart dust (picture the artificial swarm in Michael Crei ...

Article - News Staff - Nov 12 2007 - 2:58pm