Studying Carbon Dioxide Absorption In Antarctic Seas
Georgia Institute of Technology The seas around Antarctica can, at times, resemble a garden. Large-scale experiments where scientists spray iron into the waters, literally fertilizing phytoplankton, have created huge man-made algal blooms. Such...
Latest Biological oceanography Stories
A new study on the feeding habits of ocean microbes calls into question the potential use of algal blooms to trap carbon dioxide and offset rising global levels. These blooms contain iron-eating microscopic phytoplankton that absorb C02 from the air through the process of photosynthesis and provide nutrients for marine life. But one type of phytoplankton, a diatom, is using more iron that it needs for photosynthesis and storing the extra in its silica skeletons and shells, according to an...
Rebekah Eliason for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online Humans constantly produce carbon dioxide (CO2), both naturally and as a byproduct of industrial processes. The ocean absorbs about 25 percent of the carbon dioxide emitted by human activity. Tiny organisms called plankton live in the ocean and break down this natural greenhouse gas by converting it into sugars and carbohydrates through photosynthesis. In order to understand the efficiency of the ocean’s carbon dioxide...
April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online The way scientists monitor and manage red tides or harmful algal blooms (HABs) in New England may be transformed by a new robotic sensor deployed in the Gulf of Maine coastal waters by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). WHOI launched the new instrument at the end of last month and expects to deploy a second system later this spring. The robotic sensor will add critical data to weekly real-time forecasts of the New England...
April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Sorting through the vast amounts of genetic data from the Black Sea sediment record, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) marine paleoecologist Marco Coolen was astounded by the variety of past plankton species that left behind their genetic makeup. This vast amount of data is called the plankton paleome. The Black Sea is semi-isolated from other bodies of water, and highly sensitive to climate driven environmental changes....
April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online According to the most recent Ecosystem Advisory issued by NOAA's Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC), sea surface temperatures (SSTs) for 2012 in the Northeast Shelf Large Marine Ecosystem were the highest recorded in 150 years. These record SSTs are the latest in a trend of above average temperatures observed during the spring and summer seasons and part of a pattern of elevated temperatures in the Northwest Atlantic. This trend...
New approach to algae production seeks to finally unlock the promise of algae GILBERT, Ariz., April 24, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Today Heliae announced the launch of its patent pending microalgae production platform, Volaris(TM). Volaris is the result of five years of targeted innovation, investment and commitment to delivering a commercially validated technology platform for producing high purity microalgae at competitive prices. Volaris is a game-changer that will enable large-scale...
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio, April 23, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Enhanced satellite imagery from Blue Water Satellite (http://www.bluewatersatellite.com/) of Bowling Green, Ohio, similar to what NASA has used on Mars missions, is being used as a powerful assessment tool for lake communities and organizations working to make near-term impact on the harmful algal bloom problems in our nation's water bodies. In Clear Lake California (located about 120 miles north of San Francisco and one of the...
April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online The ability of sea spray to form clouds over the ocean is influenced by ocean biology which alters the chemical composition of the spray. A team of scientists from the University of California, San Diego, is using a new approach to study tiny atmospheric particles called aerosols. These aerosols can influence climate by absorbing or reflecting sunlight and seeding clouds. "After many decades of attempting to understand how the ocean...
University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science Ocean acidification, which occurs as CO2 is absorbed by the world's oceans, is known to negatively impact a wide variety of marine animals ranging from massive corals to microscopic plankton. However, there is much less information about how fish may be impacted by acidification, should carbon emissions continue to rise as a result of human activities. In a new study published in the Proceedings of the National...
Latest Biological oceanography Reference Libraries
Ocean acidification is the name that was given to the ongoing decrease in the pH of Earth’s oceans, a cause of the uptake of anthropogenic carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. About 30 to 40 percent of the carbon dioxide that is released by humans into the atmosphere dissolves into the lakes, oceans, and rivers. To maintain the chemical equilibrium, some of it reacts with the water to create carbonic acid. Some of these extra carbonic acid molecules react with a water molecule to provide a...
A salp is a barrel-shaped, free-floating tunicate (any living organism which has a saclike body enclosed in a thick membrane or tunic with two openings or siphons for the ingress and egress of water). It moves by contracting which pumps water through its body. The salp strains the water with internal feeding filters as it goes through the body. It consumes phytoplankton that are strained from the water. Salps are common throughout equatorial, temperate, and colder seas. They are most...
The South American pilchard, Sardinops sagax, is a sardine of the Family Clupeidae, the only member of the genus Sardinops, found in the indo-Pacific oceans. Their length is up to 15.75 in (40 cm). It has a number of other common names: Australian pilchard, Blue pilchard, Blue-bait, Californian pilchard, Chilean sardine, Japanese pilchard, Pacific sardine, and Southern African pilchard. The South American pilchard is a coastal species that forms large schools. Coloration is blue green on...
