Seafloor & Below
Coral Gardens in the Dark Depths
The words “coral reefs” conjure up images of a tropical paradise: shallow, warm, aquamarine waters, bright sunlight, white coral sand, and colorful, darting fish. But corals also live deep in the sea, in regions where the sun doesn’t penetrate and water temperatures remain just above freezing.
Where Are Mines Hiding on the Seafloor?
Eternally and incessantly, waves and currents stir up sand from the seafloor near the coast.…
The Deep Ocean Exploration Institute
This may sound like heresy, but for some of us at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution,…
Ears in the Ocean
If you sought to delve into the forces that drive and shape the face of…
Mixing Oil and Water
In recent decades scientists have made substantial progress in understanding how oil enters the oceans,…
Earth’s Complex Complexion
Even as you read this, Earth's crust is continually being reborn and recycled in a…
Unraveling the Tapestry of Ocean Crust
Most people know that oceans cover about 70 percent of Earth's surface. Fewer people realize…
A Sea Change in Ocean Drilling
Stretching from inland rivers and bays to the edge of the continental shelf, the coastal…
Paving the SeafloorBrick by Brick
Most of Earth's crust is manufactured at the bottom of the sea. Deep beneath the…
The Remarkable Diversity of Seafloor Vents
Since 1982, I had spent most of my waking hours examining pieces of seafloor vent…
If Rocks Could Talk…
Every rock on Earth contains a clock, a thermometer, and a barometer.
The Engine that Drives Earth
Poets and philosophers have celebrated the timelessness of the land around us for eons, but…
Conduits Into Earth’s Inaccessible Interior
Jules Verne wrote about a way to journey to the center of the earth, but…
Voyage to Vailulu’u
It was like a pirate’s treasure map. A dotted line clearly showed the trail, but…
The Cauldron Beneath the Seafloor
Just over 20 years ago, scientists exploring the mid-ocean ridge system first made the spectacular…
ALISS in Wonderland
In 1985, Cindy Van Dover, then a graduate student in biology in the MIT/WHOI Joint…
How to Build a Black Smoker Chimney
Diving along the mid-ocean ridge at 21°N on the East Pacific Rise, scientists within the…
Hitting the Hotspots
The great volcanic mid-ocean ridge system stretches continuously around the globe for 60,000 kilometers, nearly…
Life on the Seafloor and Elsewhere in the Solar System
The RIDGE program (Ridge Inter-Disciplinary Globe Experiments) was sharply focused on the global spreading center…
The Big MELT
More than 95 percent of the earth's volcanic magma is generated beneath the seafloor at…
Exploring The Global Mid-Ocean Ridge
There is a natural tendency in scientific investigations for increased specialization. Most important advances are…
Melt Extraction from the Mantle Beneath Mid-Ocean Ridges
As the oceanic plates move apart at mid-ocean ridges, rocks from Earth's mantle, far below,…
Indian Ocean’s Atlantis Bank Yields Deep-Earth Insight
I never imagined I would spend six weeks of my life “wandering around” the seafloor…