A new project looks to unearth information about and learn from ancient underwater landslides buried deep beneath the seafloor to support New Zealand’s resilience to natural hazards.
research at sea
Tiny Creatures May Play a Difficult-to-Detect Role in Ocean Mixing
As an idea that began as a joke, critter-driven ocean mixing has long been controversial. Now scientists have caught spawning anchovies causing turbulence and stirring the sea.
Groundwater Flow May Contribute to Submarine Permafrost Thaw
New, detailed surveys from the Beaufort Sea reveal a seafloor depression the size of a city block associated with permafrost thaw and likely influenced by the movement of groundwater below.
Microscopic Hitchhikers Found on Deep-Sea Plastic
Are bacteria hailing a ride on plastic 2,000 meters deep?
An Unprecedented View Inside a Hurricane
To improve future tropical cyclone forecasts, researchers sent a remotely operated saildrone into the extreme winds and towering waves around the eye of a category 4 hurricane.
New Observations Reveal Ancient Subglacial Water Paths
Analyses of new shipboard and ROV observations of bedrock channels carved by floods and outbursts from subglacial lakes under Antarctica shed light on complex subglacial processes.
Deep-Sea Exploration Could Help Us Fight the Next Pandemic
Deep-ocean-dwelling microbes may hold keys to improved medical diagnostics and new drugs for fighting diseases. But we must search Earth’s most extreme habitats to find them.
A Global Ocean Biogeochemical Observatory Becomes a Reality
Building on the successful Argo network of seafaring temperature and salinity sensors, work is underway to deploy 1,000 floats equipped to study ocean biogeochemistry in greater detail than ever.
A Cagey Approach to Speedy and Safe Seafloor Deployments
Researchers devised a simple way to deliver ocean bottom seismometers accurately to the seafloor to study ongoing seismic and volcanic activity near the islands of Mayotte.
Navigating the Pacific with Wind, Waves, and Stars
Ancient Polynesian voyagers sailed thousands of kilometers with no maps or compasses; they followed nature’s clues. Using the same tools, the Moananuiākea Voyage will set sail from Alaska and circle the Pacific.