Small bits of plastic don’t just float at the sea surface—they span the entire water column. Scientists need consistent methods to track these particles and to better understand the hazards they pose.
research at sea
Posted inResearch & Developments
Trump Administration to Remove Hundreds of Deep-Ocean Observation Instruments, Dismantling $368 Million Program
The Trump administration’s National Science Foundation (NSF) has begun dismantling the infrastructure of a $368 million deep-ocean observing program critical to monitoring marine ecosystems, global currents, marine heat waves, and more, according to a 21 May announcement.
Posted inScience Updates
Melting Glaciers Make the Coastal Ocean More Sensitive
Fresh water from retreating ice does more than raise sea levels. It affects how the ocean responds to acidification and other environmental changes.
Posted inScience Updates
Tracking Microplastics Above and Below the Waves
Measuring plastic particles carried on Cozumel’s sea breezes and ocean currents reveals how simple physics shapes the particles’ pathways and the impacts they may have on coastal regions.
Posted inScience Updates
A New Twist on Robotic Float Data Reveals Critical Ocean Chemistry
A novel application of a statistical method to existing data from the global network of BGC-Argo floats unveiled chemical measurements critical to tracking nitrogen cycling in oxygen minimum zones.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Mysteriously Bright Waters near Antarctica Explained
Shiny-shelled diatoms make a remote part of the Southern Ocean appear especially reflective in satellite imagery.
Posted inResearch & Developments
Scientists Ask NSF to Keep Only Antarctic Icebreaker Afloat
On 28 July, more than 170 researchers sent a letter to National Science Foundation leaders and Congress, urging them to reconsider the decision to terminate the lease of the Nathaniel B. Palmer, the United States’ only Antarctic research vessel-icebreaker (RVIB) and a key part of science operations around the White Continent.
Posted inFeatures
Phoebe Lam: Embracing the Ocean’s Complexities
A generalist at heart, this geochemist is unraveling the mysteries of the ocean’s chemical cycling.
Posted inScience Updates
Finding Consensus on Arctic Ocean Climate History
Understanding the effects of a “blue” Arctic Ocean on future climate requires a coordinated effort to study Earth’s past warm periods using a variety of classical and cutting-edge methods.