A 400,000-year calcium carbonate record from the ocean floor sheds light on deep-ocean circulation and on mechanisms driving climate patterns and atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations.
seafloor
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Eddy Generation in the Central Bay of Bengal
Eddies in the central Bay of Bengal are generated near the eastern boundary of the basin, related to equatorial wind forcing, nonlinearity, and the topographic “bump” of Myanmar.
Posted inNews
Audio Reveals Sizes of Methane Bubbles Rising from the Seafloor
A sensitive underwater microphone captures the sounds of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, escaping into waters off the coast of Oregon. Using this sound, researchers can estimate the bubbles’ sizes.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Scraping Bottom: Iceberg Scours Reveal North Atlantic Currents
A 3-D seismic analysis of Pleistocene iceberg gouges indicates that surface currents in the Norwegian Sea flowed northward and remained consistent during numerous glacial cycles.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
On the Origin of Infragravity Waves
Seafloor pressure sensor data show that long-period ocean surface waves radiating from the world’s shorelines are mostly reflected back to shore by the continental shelf edge.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Life and Death in the Deepest Depths of the Seafloor
Lacking light and energy, under-seafloor microbes rely on ancient organic materials to survive.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Visualizing One of the Most Hazardous Formations in Nature
A network of buoys provides a first glimpse of the seafloor beneath a volatile Italian caldera.
Posted inNews
Nutrient-Rich Water Around Seamounts Lures Top Predators
At an Indian Ocean marine refuge, tides drive cold water laden with nutrients onto the tops of underwater mountains, where it sustains a long food chain that culminates in sharks, tuna, and seabirds.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
How Do Deep-Sea Gravity Currents Transport Sediment So Far?
The first field measurements of turbidity currents flowing around submarine channel bends indicate spiral flow plays a key role in keeping sediment suspended for hundreds of kilometers.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Tracking Deep-Earth Processes from Rapid Topographic Changes
Rapid elevation-rise in Turkey, tracked by marine sediments that now sit at 1.5 km in elevation, is linked to deep-Earth processes that can explain short-lived, extreme rates of topographic change.