The ocean’s depths cooled off about 1.5 million years ago, and scientists think watery tunnels from the south may be to blame.
Pacific Ocean
Posted inNews
Marine Heat Waves Slow the Ocean’s Carbon Flow
When plankton find themselves in hot water, organic matters stalls at the surface and disrupts transport of carbon to the deep ocean.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Equatorial Deep Ocean Response to the Madden-Julian Oscillation
The changes in Madden-Julian Oscillation wind can trigger a response in the deep equatorial Pacific and Indian Ocean.
Posted inFeatures
Scrambling to Study Smoke on the Water
Timely action shows the impact of urban fires on freshwater and marine ecosystems.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Decadal Forecasts with a SMYLE
Scientists use a large suite of simulations with an established climate model to predict the Pacific Decadal Oscillation up to one year in advance, but El Niño can still get in the way.
Posted inNews
Iron Emissions Are Shifting a North Pacific Plankton Bloom
Some of the iron emitted by industrial activity in East Asia is carried by winds into the North Pacific, where it nourishes iron-hungry phytoplankton.
Posted inResearch & Developments
Magnitude-8.8 Earthquake Strikes Western Pacific
One of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded struck off the eastern coast of Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula Wednesday morning local time. Initially pegged at a magnitude-8.0, the quake was eventually upgraded to a magnitude-8.8. Adjusted magnitude estimates are not unusual for large earthquakes as more data become available.
Posted inEditors' Vox
Two Equations that Unlock El Niño
Despite the El Niño–Southern Oscillation’s global reach and complex ocean–atmosphere interactions across timescales, two simple, elegant equations capture its key dynamics and defining properties.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
On the Origins of Subantarctic Mode Waters
A modeling study shows how warm subtropical waters and cold Antarctic waters combine to form an Indo-Pacific water mass that plays a key role in Earth’s climate.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Investigating Rainfall-Rich Periods in North America
A record of soil moisture that extends over one thousand years allows for the investigation of occurrence and causes of modern and historical rainfall-rich periods.