Ocean Topic

Life at Vents & Seeps

February 6, 2019

Hydrothermal vents and cold seeps are places where chemical-rich fluids emanate from the seafloor, often providing the energy to sustain lush communities of life in some very harsh environments.

Marine Mammals

Marine mammals are warm-blooded vertebrates that bear live young and nourish them with milk as land mammals do, but that spend most or all of their lives in the ocean.

Marine Microbes

Microbial life can be found throughout the ocean, from rocks and sediments beneath the seafloor, across the vast stretches of open water, to intertidal and surf zones.

Ocean Life

Incredible diversity exists in the ocean, from microscopic organisms to the largest animals on Earth.

Corals

Many people think of coral as hard, rock-like formations that attract abundant, diverse marine life. In fact, corals are tiny marine animals called polyps that live together in colonies.

Jellyfish & Other Zooplankton

These animals live all or part of their life suspended and drifting in fresh or salt water, rarely come in contact with hard surfaces.

AMOC—The Atlantic Ocean’s conveyor belt

The ocean’s conveyor-like global circulation influences today’s climate system.

El Niño & Other Oscillations

sea surface temperature during El Niño (left) and La Niña (right) episodes

El Niño is a warming of surface waters in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean, while La Niña is a cooling event.

Ocean Circulation

Swirling parcels of water, called ocean eddies, spin off from the warm Gulf Stream.

Ocean currents and water properties play large roles in Earth’s climate and ecosystems.

Currents, Gyres, & Eddies

At the surface and beneath, currents, gyres and eddies physically shape the coasts and ocean bottom.

Ocean Acidification

Ocean acidification is a reduction in the pH of the ocean over an extended period of time, caused primarily by an increase of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Ocean Chemistry

The understanding of chemistry in the ocean is critical because changes can influence marine life, and in turn, human life.

Biogeochemistry studies the cycles of crucial elements, such as carbon and nitrogen, and their interactions with other substances and organisms as they move through Earth's atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and lithosphere.

Carbon Cycle

Carbon is the building block of life on Earth and has a powerful impact on the planet’s climate.

Harmful Algae & Red Tides

A “red tide” of blooming algae (the dinoflagellate Noctiluca scintillans)

Tiny plants pose a potent threat to those who live in and eat from the sea.

Tsunamis

A tsunami is a massive, fast-moving wave created by an underwater earthquake or landslide. Displaced ocean water creates waves with speeds of up to 500 miles per hour.

Underwater Volcanoes

These eruptions of molten rock and ash can be destructive to human settlements, but vitally creative for the rest of the planet.

Earthquakes

An earthquake is a shaking of the ground that occurs when two large blocks of Earth's crust slip suddenly past one another.

Hurricanes

Hurricanes are large rotating tropical storms with winds in excess of 119 kilometers per hour. They usually form in the Atlantic Ocean but can develop in other oceans as well.

Changing Shorelines & Erosion

Waves, currents, wind, storms, and tides form complex interactions over time to cause erosion along some stretches of shoreline and growth in others.

Coastal Ecosystems

The narrow region where land and ocean meet includes salt marshes, mangroves, wetlands, estuaries, reefs, and bays often linked in a network of physical, chemical, and biological interchanges.

Coastal Science

Although the oceans cover most of Earth, the tiny sliver of the coastal ocean greatly influences, and is most influenced by, human activity.

Paleoclimatology

Understanding how climate naturally varied over thousands and millions of years teaches us how Earth's climate system works and sheds light on current, human-induced changes.