Heat waves can happen in the depths, invisible at the ocean surface.
seafloor
Posted inEditors' Highlights
The Depleted Mantle Merry-Go-Round
Abyssal peridotites show through their isotopic composition a complex history. From differences we can infer the existence of ultra depleted mantle and an uneven contribution to ridge magmatism.
Posted inNews
Godzilla Gets a Forever Home on the Ocean Floor
The world’s largest oceanic core complex is named after the reptilian monster from Japanese science fiction. Parts of the seabed feature were recently christened with the beast’s anatomy.
Posted inNews
Deep-Sea Sand and Where to Find It
Ancient underwater avalanches carried sand into the ocean’s abyss during a time when some least expected it.
Posted inScience Updates
Making Sense of the Great Barrier Reef’s Mysterious Green Donuts
Researchers set sail to the Great Barrier Reef to study how ring-shaped algae deposits formed and evolved, what feeds them, and the diversity of creatures that call them home.
Posted inScience Updates
Observing a Seismic Cycle at Sea
Scientists organized a trio of expeditions to document the buildup of stress leading to a large earthquake on a seafloor fault, developing innovations for successful seagoing research in the process.
Posted inNews
Seafloor Plastic Pollution Is Not Going Anywhere
The amount of microplastics at the bottom of the Mediterranean is growing as global production increases and plastic breakdown is halted.
Posted inNews
Making Underwater Cables SMART with Sensors
Future cables that stretch across the ocean, transmitting cat videos and financial transactions, could also contain temperature, pressure, and seismic sensors that would allow scientists to spy on the seafloor.
Posted inNews
In the Deepest Ocean Reaches, a Potent Pollutant Comes to Rest
Surprising amounts of mercury settling into deep-sea trenches may provide a fuller picture of the metal’s path through the environment, but pulling it to the surface is no easy feat.
Posted inNews
The Bottom of the Arctic Is Blooming
Researchers found phytoplankton hidden on the Arctic seafloor, hinting at a cascade of effects on the local ecology and carbon cycle.