Fool’s Gold from Hydrothermal Vents to Plankton
Fool’s Gold from Hydrothermal Vents to Plankton avatar

By , on May 15th, 2011 Leave a comment   Seeps, Vent, & Whale Falls   , , , , , ,  

A nice little paper in Nature Geoscience that helps reconcile iron budgets for the word’s oceans.  The hot, mineral rich water that spews from hydrothermal vents contains a significant amount of fool’s gold, or iron pyrite.  Because iron pyrite is more resistant to rusting than basic iron and much of the iron pyrite venting is nanoparticles, they . . . → Read More: Fool’s Gold from Hydrothermal Vents to Plankton

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Ocean Warming Melts Methane Hydrates Which Screws Us All
Ocean Warming Melts Methane Hydrates Which Screws Us All avatar

By , on July 7th, 2010 4 comments   Conservation & Environment, Environmental Sciences, Geology, Microbes, New Research   , , , , , , ,  

That’s pretty much the message of new study in Geophysical Research Letters. Large deposits of methane hydrates, i.e. methane ice, occur naturally in the seafloor sediments of the Arctic continental shelf between 300-600 meters.  This is dominate reservoir for methane due to the large area and extremely low temperatures. The continued and predicted warming of the oceans would . . . → Read More: Ocean Warming Melts Methane Hydrates Which Screws Us All

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What the @$#! is wrong with carbon budgets?
What the @$#! is wrong with carbon budgets? avatar

By , on March 21st, 2010 6 comments   Biodiversity, Ecology, Environmental Sciences, Microbes, New Research, Zooplankton   , , , , ,  

[Note the following post makes gratuitous use of keyboard symbols to denote adult language] In the coolest titled paper ever “Assessing the apparent imbalance between geochemical and biochemical indicators of meso- and bathypelagic biological activity: What the @$#! is wrong with present calculations of carbon budgets?” with the world’s coolest handling editor, Burd et al tackle one of . . . → Read More: What the @$#! is wrong with carbon budgets?

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Simple Summer Recipes for Dead Seafloor Carrion
Simple Summer Recipes for Dead Seafloor Carrion avatar

By , on August 11th, 2009 3 comments   Adaptations, Biodiversity, Fish, Life Science, New Research, Uncategorized   , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,  

Photo courtesy of MBARI. Coryphaenoides acrolepis in Monterey Canyon. Rattail fish are caught and sold under the more palatable name, "grenadier." However, the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch program recommends that consumers do not purchase or eat grenadier because the fish grow very slowly and may not reproduce until they are 30 or 40 years . . . → Read More: Simple Summer Recipes for Dead Seafloor Carrion

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Ocean Acidification, Not Good For Living
Ocean Acidification, Not Good For Living avatar

By , on April 13th, 2009 6 comments   Adaptations, Conservation & Environment, Critters, Environmental Sciences, Geology, New Research, Seeps, Vent, & Whale Falls   , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,  

Two recent papers in Nature GeoScience demonstrate the real effects of ocean acidification. For those not in know, there is an ongoing decrease in the pH of the oceans from carbon dioxide released by humans into the atmosphere.  From 1751 to 1994, the pH of the world’s oceans has dropped by 0.1, an considerable decrease . . . → Read More: Ocean Acidification, Not Good For Living

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