Carbon Cycle
Underwater Starfield
A swimmer’s encounter with creatures of the open ocean
The pull of the poles
Researchers discuss their work at the ends of the earth
Living on the edge
Science faces off with an increasingly volatile coast
The teetering balance of coastal CO2
WHOI scientists Matt Long and Aleck Wang explain the incredibly important role of coastal seagrasses…
Chasing Ocean ‘Snowflakes’
Scientists envision putting a flotilla of devices in the ocean to act as “eyes” that…
The Living Breathing Ocean
Rainforests have been dubbed the Earth's lung, but like us, our planet has two lungs.…
Marshes, Mosquitoes, and Sea Level Rise
In the 1930s, the Cape Cod Mosquito Control Project dug approximately 1,500 miles of ditches…
The Discovery of Hydrothermal Vents
In 1977, WHOI scientists made a discovery that revolutionized our understanding of how and where…
Mission to the Ocean Twilight Zone
The twilight zone is a part of the ocean 660 to 3,300 feet below the…
New Device Reveals What Ocean Microbes Do
Whether you’re a plant, animal, or even a microbe, you generally can’t conduct the business…
A Mighty Mysterious Molecule
What gives sea air its distinctive scent? A chemical compound called dimethylsulfide. In a new…
Specks in the Spectrometer
Mass spectrometer facilities can be a rite of passage for scientists—as well as for the…
Earth’s Riverine Bloodstream
Like blood in our arteries in our body, water in rivers carry chemical signals that…
Carbon Cycle
Carbon is a building block for all life and plays a key role in regulating…
Tracking a Trail of Carbon
Lake Titicaca in the Andes Mountains of South America is an extraordinary place to explore…
Leaf Wax: A Chemical Journey
Lake Titicaca in the Andes Mountains of South America is an extraordinary place to explore…
Short-circuiting the Biological Pump
The ocean has been sucking up the heat-trapping carbon dioxide (CO2) building up in our…
An Appetite Stimulant for Bacteria in the Ocean
PUAs kick bacteria’s metabolism and CO2 respiration rates into hyperdrive—ike skinny weightlifters after a steroid…
Uncovering the Ocean’s Biological Pump
Dan Ohnemus clearly remembers the highlight of his fourth-grade class in Bourne, Mass. He and…
Of The River and Time
The Fraser River in western Canada is flowing with tiny time capsules. Inside them is…
A River Runs Through It
The geochemical journey of carbon from the atmosphere to the river.
River Quest
Max Holmes and Bernhard Peucker-Ehrenbrink spend a lot of time upriver—one day bundled in a…
Elemental Journeys
Humans have changed the face of the Earth by significantly altering the natural movements of…
Deep-sea Detectives
Links to related materials Mid-Ocean Ridges—Articles, illustrations, and video showing how new seafloor crust forms…