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Geology & Geophysics


Understanding the Melting Arctic

Glaciologist Sarah Das explains why surface melting and runoff across Greenland’s mile-thick ice sheet sped up dramatically in the 20th and 21st centuries, showing no signs of abating.

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Up All Night- Atlantic hurricanes

BBC radio host Rhod Sharp and Jeff Donnelly of WHOI’s Coastal Research Lab trace the history of hurricanes in the Atlantic and discuss the frequency of intense storms. New sediment…

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Faculty

The MIT-WHOI Joint Program draws from the resources of two preeminent institutions to form one of the largest oceanographic faculties in the world. Experts in their fields instruct students using…

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Origin of Massive Methane Reservoir Identified

New research provides evidence of the formation and abundance of abiotic methane—methane formed by chemical reactions that don’t involve organic matter—on Earth and shows how the gases could have a similar origin on other planets and moons, even those no longer home to liquid water.

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How Do Corals Build Their Skeletons?

How Do Corals Build Their Skeletons?

WHOI scientists discovered precisely how ocean acidification affects coral skeletons’ a factor that will help scientists predict how corals throughout the world will fare as the oceans become more acidic.

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Searching for ‘Super Reefs’

Searching for ‘Super Reefs’

Some corals are less vulnerable to ocean acidification. Can the offspring from these more resilient corals travel to other reefs to help sustain more vulnerable coral populations there?

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Human-Engineered Changes on Mississippi River Increased Extreme Floods

Human-Engineered Changes on Mississippi River Increased Extreme Floods

Over the last century, many of the world’s major rivers have been modified for the purposes of flood control, power generation, and commercial navigation. A new study out of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution suggests that engineering modifications to the Mississippi River interact with the have increased the risk of extreme floods to unprecedented levels.

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How Is the Seafloor Made?

How Is the Seafloor Made?

An ultrasound for the Earth? Using sound waves, a graduate student peers into the crystalline texture of the tectonic plates that cover our planet’s surface.

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Unearthing Long-Gone Hurricanes

Unearthing Long-Gone Hurricanes

A graduate student at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution tracks a trail of clues left behind on the seafloor by hurricanes as they stream across the ocean.

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A Double Whammy for Corals

A Double Whammy for Corals

Scientists know that gradually rising ocean temperatures can push corals past a threshold and cause them to bleach. But combine this chronic stress with an acute short-term weather shift, and…

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Taking Earth’s Inner Temperature

Taking Earth’s Inner Temperature

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution wasn’t an obvious fit for Emily Sarafian. “I always felt a little out of place here, because I don’t study the ocean, really,” said Sarafian, a…

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