What’s green and gold and red all over?
What’s green and gold and red all over? avatar

By , on November 29th, 2012 3 comments   Microbes, Plankton   , , , ,  

There’s a sizable red tide event unfolding in Australia right now, where thick slicks of red planktonic algae are washing up on Sydney’s iconic beaches, including the most famous beach in the whole country: Bondi. Web news sources are replete with dramatic pictures; I especially liked this one of vermilion surf juxtaposed with the tuquoise . . . → Read More: What’s green and gold and red all over?

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Here We Go Again With Dumping Iron Into the Ocean
Here We Go Again With Dumping Iron Into the Ocean avatar

By , on October 15th, 2012 38 comments   Climate Change, Conservation & Environment, Dumping, Industry & Government   , , , , , , , ,  

The Planktos Incident continues. Just when I thought it had died. Russ George, former head of the defunct Planktos, has decided to, despite the scientific community asking for a more cautious and sensible approach and international moratoriums, dump 100 tons of iron into the ocean. In discussing the DSN core value of Awareness Through Scrutiny, . . . → Read More: Here We Go Again With Dumping Iron Into the Ocean

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TGIF – My secret life as plankton
TGIF – My secret life as plankton avatar

By , on April 6th, 2012 One comment   Pictures and Movies, Plankton   ,  

h/t Bruce Carlson and TED  

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 . . . → Read More: Fool’s Gold from Hydrothermal Vents to Plankton

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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, 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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Iron Fertilization Will Not Help Global Warming
Iron Fertilization Will Not Help Global Warming avatar

By , on March 24th, 2009 9 comments   Conservation & Environment, Dumping, Environmental Sciences, Expeditions, New Research, Weather   , , , , , , , , , , ,  

BERLIN (AFP) — Indian and German scientists have said that a controversial experiment has “dampened hopes” that dumping hundreds of tonnes of dissolved iron in the Southern Ocean can lessen global warming. The experiment involved “fertilising” a 300-square-kilometre (115-sqare-mile) area of ocean inside the core of an eddy — an immense rotating column of water . . . → Read More: Iron Fertilization Will Not Help Global Warming

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