Archive for May, 2013

Mapping sea salt from orbit: Building better ocean and climate models

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Climate is greatly influenced by the flow of heat energy carried by ocean currents. But precisely quantifying the mixing between the ocean and the atmosphere is hampered by a lack of detail in models of the ocean and of the water cycle. And in both models, knowing the salt content of the water is essential....

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New maps show how shipping noise spans the globe

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Scientists have modeled shipping noise on a global scale....

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Why female loggerhead sea turtles always return to their place of birth

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For a better protection of marine turtles, scientists are trying to understand why they return to their birthplace in order to reproduce after rather long distance migrations. Using molecular tools applied to turtles from the Cape Verde islands, scientists found females from different islands have different immune genes, suggesting that returning home to reproduce is linked to advantages in parasite resistance....

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Thermal limit for animal life redefined by first lab study of deep-sea vent worms

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Forty-two may or may not be the answer to everything, but it likely defines the temperature limit where animal life thrives, according to the first laboratory study of heat-loving Pompeii worms from deep-sea vents....

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Recovery of Hawaiian green sea turtles still short of historic levels

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Hawaiian green sea turtle populations have increased in recent years, but their numbers still fall far short of historic levels. A new report suggests that calls to lift protection for this species may be premature....

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Arctic current flowed under deep freeze of last ice age, study says

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During the last ice age, when thick ice covered the Arctic, many scientists assumed that the deep currents below that feed the North Atlantic Ocean and help drive global ocean currents slowed or even stopped. But in a researchers have now shown that the deep Arctic Ocean has been churning briskly for the last 35,000 years, through the chill of the last ice age and warmth of modern times....

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Geochemistry survey at Chatham Rise reveals absence of modern day greenhouse gas emissions

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Geochemistry analysis of fossil sediment injection structures off the New Zealand coast in February and March reveal no presence of modern day expulsions of methane gas, a potential contributor to global 'greenhouse effect' warming....

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Historic sea-level change along New Jersey coastline mapped

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A new study relied upon fossil records of marshland to reconstruct the changes in sea level along the New Jersey coast going back 10,000 years....

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Scientists develop CO2 sequestration technique

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Scientists have discovered and demonstrated a new technique to remove and store atmospheric carbon dioxide while generating carbon-negative hydrogen and producing alkalinity, which can be used to offset ocean acidification....

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Fast-sinking jellyfish could boost the oceans’ uptake of carbon dioxide

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Increasing numbers of gelatinous plankton might help in mitigating the carbon dioxide problem. In field and laboratory experiments scientists have shown that dead jellyfish and pelagic tunicates sink much faster than phytoplankton and marine snow remains. Jellies are especially important because they rapidly consume plankton and particles and quickly export biomass and carbon to the ocean interior....

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