New scientific findings are strengthening the case that the oceans and climate are linked in an intricate dance, and that rapid climate change may be related to how vigorously ocean currents move heat between low and high latitudes.
Advances in undersea imaging systems, the development of new vehicles and instruments, and improved seafloor mapping capabilities have enabled scientists to explore areas of the deep sea in unprecedented detail. One such area is the TAG hydrothermal mound in the North Atlantic Ocean, one of the largest known mineral deposits on the seafloor.
James Yoder, a professor of oceanography and former associate dean at the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography, has been chosen Vice President for Academic Programs and Dean at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).
A sensitive new genetic test can now detect a crippling disease called QPX occurring in clam beds from Cape Cod south to Virginia and north to Canada. The disease can have a significant impact on a local economy by killing clams and devastating shellfish harvests and commercial aquaculture operations.
Every day, the average person on the planet burns enough fossil fuel to emit 24 pounds of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, out of which about nine pounds is then taken up by the ocean. As this CO2 combines with seawater, it forms an acid in a process known as ocean acidification.
Topic ideas for hurricane season.
Scientists have recently recognized an imbalance in the flow of salty groundwater into the coastal ocean: considerable saltwater discharge into the ocean has been observed, but little or no return flow has been seen. Now it appears that the timing of the discharge may be key to the health of our coastal waters.
For the first time, scientists have produced images of the oceanic crust and found that the upper and lower layers of the crust are likely formed from different magma pools. The images begin to answer some lingering questions about where new ocean crust comes from and whether it is all formed the same way.
Ship strikes and entanglement in fishing gear are threatening the survival of the North Atlantic right whale, one of the most endangered whales with an estimated population of about 350.
The Pew Charitable Trusts and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution announce the establishment of the Marine Aquaculture Task Force -- comprising leaders from the worlds of science, industry, conservation and government -- to recommend national aquaculture standards for the future development of our oceans.
Large regions of the North Atlantic Ocean have been growing fresher since the late 1960s as melting glaciers and increased precipitation, both associated with greenhouse warming, have enhanced continental runoff into the Arctic and sub-Arctic seas.
Using inflatable boats, a portable depth sounder with GPS, and a REMUS autonomous underwater vehicle, a team of scientists and engineers has created the first detailed, comprehensive chart of the ocean floor around Palmer Station in Antarctica, revealing previously unknown submerged rocks.
With shellfish beds from Maine to Cape Cod coast closed from the largest outbreak of red tide in 12 years in Massachusetts Bay, scientists are studying the algae that causes these "red tides" and providing information to coastal managers using new molecular techniques and oceanographic models.
An international team of scientists has discovered an active underwater volcano near the Samoan Island chain about 2,400 miles southwest of Hawaii.
Resources at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
Marine diatoms, such as Thalassiosira pseudonana pictured here, are found throughout the world's oceans. The walls of marine diatoms have beautiful patterns when viewed under a microscope.
Results of a new experiment indicate that salt fingers are vertically mixing ocean waters more than previously thought. The finding will improve understanding of how water masses in the ocean mix, leading to better climate prediction models.
Scientists have long debated what causes glacial/interglacial cycles, which have occurred most recently at intervals of about 100,000 years. A new study finds that these glacial cycles are paced by variations in the tilt of Earth's axis, and that glaciations end when Earth's tilt is large.
A small autonomous underwater vehicle named Spray was launched yesterday about 12 miles southeast of Bermuda. The two-meter-(6-foot)-long orange glider with a four-foot wingspan will slowly make its way northwest, crossing the Gulf Stream and reaching the continental shelf on the other side before turning around and heading back to Bermuda.
Predicting when large earthquakes might occur may be a step closer to reality, thanks to a new study of undersea earthquakes in the eastern Pacific Ocean. The study is the first to suggest that small seismic shocks or foreshocks preceding a major earthquake can be used in some cases to predict the main.
Elephants learn to imitate sounds that are not typical of their species, the first known example after humans of vocal learning in a non-primate terrestrial mammal. The discovery further supports the idea that vocal learning is important for maintaining individual social relationships among animals that separate and reunite over time.
Whale blubber provides definitive clues to the source of chemical compounds found in humans and marine mammals, produced for industrial use but also naturally by plants and animals.
A dozen major earthquakes of magnitude 7.0 or greater have occurred in the Caribbean near Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the island of Hispaniola, shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic, in the past 500 years, and several have generated tsunamis.
Michael Moore and Greg Early at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution have documented bone lesions in the rib and chevron bones of sperm whales, most likely caused by tissue damage from nitrogen bubbles that form when the animals rise to the surface.
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) President and Director Robert Gagosian has been appointed to the U.S. National Commission for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
Imagine a lake three times the size of the present-day Lake Ontario breaking through a dam and flooding down the Hudson River Valley past New York City and into the North Atlantic.
A small ocean glider named Spray is the first autonomous underwater vehicle to cross the Gulf Stream underwater, proving the viability of self-propelled gliders for long-distance scientific missions and opening new possibilities for studies of the oceans.
Oceanographers will soon be able to sit in their labs ashore and communicate with instruments in the water at ocean observatories around the world, enabling researchers to direct instruments to respond to recent events like hurricanes and earthquakes in that area.
After 40 years of scientific research that led to the discovery of new life forms, helped confirm the theory of plate tectonics, and enthralled schoolchildren around the world with seafloor images and video, the research submersible Alvin will be replaced by a new, deeper-diving vehicle.
The Media Relations Office is now publishing a photo tip sheet, "Eyes on the Ocean," for photo editors and other interested members of the media who might need photos to illustrate stories or need an interesting image/graphic to anchor a page in layout.
1) Where Currents Collide and Marine Mammals Gather; 2) Insights into Harmful Algal Blooms; 3) A New Seafloor Observatory System
Clues to the timing and cause of abrupt climate changes in the past may lie in ocean floor sediments, according to a study by scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
The movie The Day After Tomorrow, released today by 20th Century Fox, paints a dramatic picture of the effects of climate change - and raises questions about the boundary between science and science fiction. How fast can Earth's climate change?
Scientists have joined together to form the Woods Hole Center for Oceans and Human Health, which will focus on issues at the intersection of oceanographic, biological, and environmental health sciences, such as harmful algal blooms and organisms in coastal waters and estuaries.
Dumping iron in the ocean is known to spur the growth of plankton that remove carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, from the atmosphere, but a new study indicates iron fertilization may not be the quick fix to climate problems that some had hoped.
Senior Scientist Robert Detrick has been appointed Vice President for Marine Facilities and Operations at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), effective July 1, 2004.
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is one of the ten best places to work for postdoctoral researchers, according to a recent survey of readers of the magazine The Scientist. WHOI ranked eighth in the top ten US institutions.
Tropical ocean waters have become dramatically saltier over the past 40 years, while oceans closer to Earth's poles have become fresher, scientists reported today.
For the first time since 1960, US scientists will be able to explore the deepest parts of the world's oceans with a novel underwater vehicle capable working in extreme conditions. Researchers are developing an underwater robot to enable scientists to explore the ocean's most remote regions.
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution scientist's have identified a new ultraslow class of ocean ridge spreading so slowly that Earth's mantle is exposed over large seafloor regions. Their findings offer a major change in thinking about the formation of the great crustal plates that make up the earth's surface.
Scientists have a new theory for why there are so many holes and collapsed pits on the ocean bottom. Researchers say the holes are probably formed by lava erupting onto the seafloor so quickly it traps water beneath it, forming bubbles of steam that eventually collapse as the water cools.
Two veteran journalists today received the first WHOI Ocean Science Journalism Award for their contributions to the public understanding of oceanography. The award was presented in two categories, print and broadcast journalism.
A new application of a decades-old technique to study Earth's interior is allowing scientists "see" the layers in the ocean, providing new insight on the structure of ocean currents, eddies and mixing processes.
Deepwater coral reefs in the US Virgin Islands may occupy a much larger area and be in better health than previously thought, based on evidence gathered by a new autonomous underwater vehicle which flies through the sea like a helicopter.
Dr. John Farrington, a chemical oceanographer who conducted pioneering research on petroleum in the marine environment and the mobility of contaminants such as polychlorinated biphenyls in seafloor sediments, will receive the 2003 Bostwick H. Ketchum Award.
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution scientists from diverse disciplines have responded to the April 27 spill of nearly 15,000 gallons of Number 6 fuel oil into Buzzards Bay, drawing on decades of experience studying the effects of oil spills on the marine and coastal environment.
With the press of a computer button and the plasma cutting of a sheet of aluminum, construction began earlier this month on the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution's new 60-foot coastal vessel.
One of Japan's highest honors, the Imperial Order of the Rising Sun, will be bestowed on Dr. Susumu Honjo of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, for his research on the transfer of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to the ocean's interior and for his efforts to strengthen Japan's role in the international ocean science research community.
Reducing atmospheric carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas linked to global warming, by fertilizing the oceans with iron may not be as attractive a solution as once thought.
An associate scientist in the Department of Physical Oceanography at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution will receive the European Geophysical Society's Fridtjof Nansen Medal in recognition of his pioneering contributions to the measurement of mixing in the deep ocean.
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