Multimedia Items
Schematic of dust distribution across the ocean
Schematic of dust distribution across the ocean. (Illustration by Jack Cook, © Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)
Read MoreSchematic of seafloor spreading processes
Schematic of seafloor spreading processes. (Courtesy of Ralph Stephen, © Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)
Read MoreSchematic road map of the ocean’s circulation
A schematic roadmap of the ocean’s circulation: Each ocean basin contains large spinning gyres, driven by Earth’s rotation and winds. The gyres are mostly self-contained, so that waters circulate within…
Read MoreScope and benefits of a “Coastal Carbon Observing Network”
(Illustration by Natalie Renier, © Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)
Read MoreSea Level Falls and Rises relative to land
From Special Report: Understanding Sea Level Rise. (Illustration by Eric S. Taylor, © Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)
Read MoreSeafloor topography data & subterranean conceptual view at Kermadec Trench
Ocean trenches, such as the Kermadec (shown here) near New Zealand, exist where one of Earth’s tectonic plates is sinking and sliding beneath another. This process, referred to as plate…
Read MoreSeries showing how sub-fjord glacial melting adds to sea level rise
1) The researchers are investigating fjords as links between glaciers and the open ocean, and in particular, the role of warming ocean waters and underwater glacial melting in accelerating the…
Read MoreSimple Carbon cycle featuring ocean depth profile levels to OTZ
Simple carbon cycle featuring ocean depth profile levels to OTZ. (Illustration by Natalie Renier, © Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)
Read MoreSingle-celled life relationships illustration
Bacteria and unicellular marine plants called diatoms depend on each other for some essential nutrients, but they also compete for other nutrients. So life gets complicated in the chemical soup…
Read MoreSolar system reference diagram depicting the origin of water
In the early days of our solar system, when Earth and other planets were still taking shape, the dashed white line represents the snow line the transition from the hotter…
Read MoreSound waves data plot
This image was created using sound waves that traveled through the ocean, through the seafloor, and back up to recorders trailing a ship on the surface. By measuring the time…
Read MoreSources of oil spills
Sources of oil spills. (Illustration by Jack Cook, © Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)
Read MoreSpilhaus projection of the world’s oceans
An ocean-focused world The Spilhaus Projection presents the world seas and oceans as a single body of water. It was originally created by Athelstan Spilhaus, a geophysicist and oceanographer, who…
Read MoreSunlight effect on polystyrene plastic cup at beach
Sunlight degrades polystyrene faster than expected. (Illustration by Natalie Renier, © Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)
Read MoreSunlit Zone, Twilight Zone, and Midnight Zone locations in the water column
The ocean’s mesopelagic zone, also known as the ocean twilight zone, is located roughly 100 to 1000 meters below the surface. It begins just beneath the sunlit waters of the…
Read MoreThe Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC)
The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) propels warm surface water to high-latitude regions. There, the water encounters strong winds and cold air temperatures, which causes it to become colder and…
Read MoreThe Earth’s water supply compared to the size of the US
Viewed from outer space, Earth has been called the Blue Planet. But if you could pull all the water in the ocean, the atmosphere, groundwater and surface water into a…
Read MoreThe formation of 18° mode water
18° water forms when cold winter winds blow over warm surface waters. Heat and moisture rise into the atmosphere. The cooler, denser waters left behind sink and form a layer…
Read MoreOpposing currents, Deep Western Boundary Current and Gulf Stream
To explore why waters may be exiting the Deep Western Boundary Current, Isabela Le Bras is using a mathematical model that focuses on three features: the Deep Western Boundary Current,…
Read MoreOriginal sketch of Titanic wreck site debris field
Original sketch of Titanic wreck site debris field. (Photo courtesy of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Archives, © Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)
Read MoreOTZ Mixing Pump and Migration Pump
MIGRANT PUMP: The diel vertical migration (DVM) is a major part of the ocean’s BCP. As the sun sets each day, many animals living in the twilight zone—including fishes, gelatinous…
Read MorePhotosynthesis process featuring its light and dark stages
WHOI biologist Sam Laney studies the daily lives of single-celled plants in the ocean known as phytoplankton. The organisms carry out photosynthesis within specialized organelles called chloroplasts, which contain the…
Read MorePlates Collide
When two plates carrying continents collide, the continental crust buckles and rocks pile up, creating towering mountain ranges. The Himalayas were born when the Indian subcontinent smashed into Asia 45…
Read MorePlates Separate
The Mid-Ocean Ridge and rift valleys, such as the one that runs through eastern Africa, occur along boundaries where plates are spreading apart. New oceanic crust is created as the…
Read More