Seafloor & Below
How did the ocean remain so quiet during Tonga’s eruption?
Underwater acoustics expert Gil Averbuch teases apart a mystery
With deep-sea mining, do microbes stand a chance?
Scouring the seafloor for precious metals could put marine microbial communities and their ecosystem functions at risk
Coming full circle
WHOI Trustee Jamie Austin’s endowed fund supports strategic goals
The story of “Little Alvin” and the lost H-bomb
How the famed submersible found a lost hydrogen bomb in the Mediterranean Sea during the…
Five extreme places to do ocean research
Whether they're under the ice at the furthest poles or hovering above the ocean's deepest…
Finding answers in the ocean
The test being used to diagnose the novel coronavirus—and other pandemics like AIDS and SARS—was…
Why we explore deep-water canyons off our coast
WHOI biologist Tim Shank joins NOAA Fisheries, the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, the…
The Rise of Orpheus
WHOI’s new deep-sea autonomous underwater vehicle moves one step closer to exploring the hadal zone—the…
Sentry Completes Its 500th Dive
WHOI’s free-swimming robot Sentry completed its 500th dive on October 16, 2018, off the Pacific…
Journey to the Bottom of the Sea
My eyelids were tightly pressed down as I mustered all the tricks I could think…
How Is the Seafloor Made?
An ultrasound for the Earth? Using sound waves, a graduate student peers into the crystalline…
Taking Earth’s Inner Temperature
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution wasn’t an obvious fit for Emily Sarafian. “I always felt a…
Pop Goes the Seafloor Rock
WHOI scientists used the human-occupied submersible Alvin and the autonomous underwater vehicle Sentry to explore a surprising discovery: gas-filled…
The Hot Spot Below Yellowstone Park
WHOI scientist Rob Sohn brought an arsenal of deep-sea technology normally used to explore the…
Fresh Water Below the Seafloor?
Using a new method to distinguish fresh water from oil or salt water, scientists are…
Attracted to Magnetics
Maurice Tivey has probably endured more than a few bad puns, like the one in…
The Quest for the Moho
For more than a century, scientists have made several attempts to drill a hole through…
The Bottom of the Ocean On Top of Your Coffee Table
Here’s a way to journey to the seafloor without leaving your living room or classroom.…
Beneath the Sea, the Galápagos Reveal More Marvels
The Galápagos Islands have offered biologists a natural laboratory ever since Charles Darwin’s day, but…
Bringing a Lab to the Seafloor
Scientists can't really know if new oceanographic instruments will really work until they try them…
Big Questions About Tiny Bacteria
It’s 3 a.m., and Jesse McNichol is struggling to stay awake. Since midafternoon, he’s been…
Deep-sea Detectives
Links to related materials Mid-Ocean Ridges—Articles, illustrations, and video showing how new seafloor crust forms…
Deep-sea Vents Yield New Species
Call it “midnight at the OASES.” Neither permanent darkness nor extreme pressure and heat cause…
A Serendipitous Seafloor Sample
This research was funded by the National Science Foundation. The pillow lava display and coffee…