Posts Tagged ‘marine sciences’
Earth & Environment - Nov 9, 2009 14:28 - 3 Comments
North Carolina sea level rises at faster pace
U. PENN (US)—An international team of environmental scientists has shown that sea-level rise, at least in North Carolina, is accelerating. The increase during the 20th century is three times higher than the rate of sea-level rise during the last 500 years. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Nov 5, 2009 15:49 - 0 Comments
Rapid spike in sea snail’s size
U. PENN (US)—The Atlantic dogwhelk is one of the best known and most widely studied organisms in the North Atlantic Ocean. Yet until now, no one had noticed that over the past century shell lengths of these sea snails have increased in size by an average of 22.6 percent. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Oct 30, 2009 10:38 - 0 Comments
First detailed record of tsunami erosion
U. WASHINGTON (US)—A group of scientists working in the Kuril Islands off the east coast of Russia has documented the scope of tsunami-caused erosion and found that a wave can carry away far more sand and dirt than it deposits. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Oct 29, 2009 11:31 - 0 Comments
Global shellfish dip linked to acidic oceans
STONY BROOK (US)—Relatively minor increases in ocean acidity brought about by high levels of carbon dioxide have significant effects on the growth and survival of hard clams, bay scallops, and Eastern oysters, new research finds. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Oct 8, 2009 16:42 - 0 Comments
Big job for oceans’ tiny ammonia eaters
U. WASHINGTON (US)—It’s not every day you find clues to the planet’s inner workings in aquarium scum. But that’s what happened when researchers cultured a tiny organism from the bottom of a Seattle Aquarium tank and found it can digest ammonia. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Aug 26, 2009 11:28 - 1 Comment
Timid teen sharks stay close to home
From 1995 to 2007, more than 1,700 immature lemon sharks were caught, tagged, and released. The implanted tags, plus subsequent recaptures and DNA analysis, showed that more than half of the 3- to 7-year-old sharks caught off Bimini were born locally and had lingered near their birthplace for years.
Earth & Environment - Aug 19, 2009 14:56 - 0 Comments
Global fisheries launch a comeback
The cowcod rockfish population collapsed in the 1980s but is now showing signs of recovery. (Courtesy: Stanford University)
Earth & Environment - Aug 19, 2009 4:00 - 0 Comments
When a toxic pond runneth over
A Duke graduate student takes samples from coal ash sludge shortly after a December 2008 spill at a power plant in Tennessee. (Courtesy: Avner Vengosh/Duke University)
Earth & Environment - Aug 10, 2009 4:00 - 0 Comments
In African rocks, traces of evolutionary blast
UNC CHAPEL HILL (US)—New research has opened the door on what some consider to be the greatest event in the history of animal life: a massive evolutionary jumpstart during the Cambrian Explosion half a billion years ago. (more…)
Earth & Environment - Aug 6, 2009 4:00 - 0 Comments
Drilling deep to take Earth’s temperature
“We now also know that, although the beginning of ice ages (in the Northern Hemisphere) is linked to greenhouse gases, the change in intensity is related to how ice sheets grow and decay,” says Sindia Sosdian (left in helmet), seen above working with core samples on an earlier expedition.
Earth & Environment - Jul 23, 2009 14:21 - 0 Comments
Reefs endure despite seaweed gone wild
“The results from this study question many of the prevailing paradigms that coral reef ecologists have developed over the past two decades,” says marine ecologist William Precht. “These findings will change the way we view and manage these fragile yet resilient ecosystems.” (Credit: John Bruno)
