Latest and Breaking Oceanography News

New method successfully predicted how oil from Deepwater Horizon spill would spread
2 September 2010, 4:00 am
(University of California - Santa Barbara) Prompted by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, a UC Santa Barbara scientist has come up with a new way of predicting how contaminants like oil will spread. He was able to forecast several days in advance that oil from that spill would wash ashore in particular parts of the Gulf of Mexico.

Tracking marine animal travel
31 August 2010, 4:00 am
(Public Library of Science) Scientists are gaining a deeper understanding of marine mammal travel patterns using a large-scale tracking network. A new PLoS collection, created in conjunction with the Pacific Ocean Shelf Tracking, or POST, Program and the Census of Marine Life, will highlight the variety of ways scientists are using this large POST network to trace marine animal movement in the Northeast Pacific Ocean.

Marine animals suggest evidence for a trans-Antarctic seaway
31 August 2010, 4:00 am
(British Antarctic Survey) A tiny marine filter-feeder that anchors itself to the sea bed offers new clues to scientists studying the stability of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet -- a region that is thought to be vulnerable to collapse.

AGU Journal highlights -- Aug. 30, 2010
30 August 2010, 4:00 am
(American Geophysical Union) Featured in this release are research papers on the following topics: Extensive relict coral reef found in southern Pacific; Heavy 2009-2010 snowfall due to colliding weather events; Shifting ozone hole exposed South America to more UV light; How does emissions mitigation policy affect ocean acidification?; Reducing soot emissions would cut Arctic ice loss; Summer heat waves to increase during coming decades; and Using underground clues to determine past atmospheric heat; and more.

Metcalf Institute wins NSF grant to help journalism and communication of oil spill research
30 August 2010, 4:00 am
(University of Rhode Island) The Metcalf Institute for Marine & Environmental Reporting at the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography received a $199,909 National Science Foundation RAPID Response grant to improve communication of oil spill research. The funding will bring science journalists, communications professionals and informal science educators together with scientists who are currently studying the Deepwater Horizon oil rig failure and its impacts on the Gulf of Mexico.

NOAA, SeaWeb partner to communicate the value of coral reefs
25 August 2010, 4:00 am
(NOAA Headquarters) NOAA and SeaWeb have entered into a partnership to enhance understanding of the nation's valuable but increasingly vulnerable coral reef ecosystems in the Caribbean, Florida, Hawaii and the Pacific Islands. Sometimes referred to as the "rainforests of the sea," coral reefs provide services estimated to be worth as much as $375 billion globally each year.

Rutgers researchers find a 'great fizz' of carbon dioxide at the end of the last ice age
25 August 2010, 4:00 am
(Rutgers University) Imagine loosening the screw-top of a soda bottle and hearing the carbon dioxide begin to escape. Then imagine taking the cap off quickly, and seeing the beverage foam and fizz out of the bottle. Then, imagine the pressure equalizing and the beverage being ready to drink. Rutgers marine scientist Elisabeth Sikes says that something similar over a 1,000 year period after the end of the last ice age -- or glaciation, as scientists call it.

LSU expert teams with Ohio State researcher to track species affected by Gulf oil spill
25 August 2010, 4:00 am
(Louisiana State University) To establish a baseline for measuring and predicting the biological impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, a LSU ichthyologist and an Ohio biomedical informatics researcher are using Ohio Supercomputer Center, or OSC, systems to help map data on the extent of the spill and chemicals and the distribution of various fish species.

Coral off Puerto Rico's coast 'ideal case study' for Gulf oil spill's impact
25 August 2010, 4:00 am
(University of Central Florida) Coral living off the coast of Puerto Rico may provide researchers valuable information about the potential impact of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Scientists map origin of large, underwater hydrocarbon plume in Gulf
24 August 2010, 4:00 am
(National Science Foundation) Scientists funded by the National Science Foundation and affiliated with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution have detected a plume of hydrocarbons at least 22 miles long and more than 3,000 feet below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, a residue of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill.