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Categories: Geoscience: Oceanography, Space: General

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Most of the sunlight reaching the Arctic Ocean is reflected to space by sea ice, effectively shielding ocean ecosystems from sunlight. As the Arctic sea ice continues its downward trend, larger areas of the ocean become exposed to sunlight for longer periods, potentially allowing more primary production on the seafloor. However, according to a new study, this anticipated increase in primary production does not seem to be occurring uniformly across the Arctic Ocean.

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Scientists found unexpected evidence the area of polynyas around Antarctica is increasing dramatically, and it follows an intriguing cycle, growing and shrinking roughly every 16 years.

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Looking deeply into space and time, astronomers have studied the exceptionally luminous galaxy GN-z11, which existed when our 13.8 billion-year-old universe was only about 430 million years old.

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Geologists determined the original orientation of many of the Mars bedrock samples collected by the Perseverance rover. The findings can give scientists clues to the conditions in which the rocks originally formed.

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Research unearthed new information to help scientists better understand circulation patterns of ocean water around glaciers. In the summers of 2014 and 2019, a group of pioneers in glacial research attached GPS devices to 13 icebergs and tracked hourly changes in their positions as they passed through Greenland's Ilulissat Icefjord toward the ocean. Study results showed circulation in the primary fjord is greatly affected by freshwater flow from connecting tributary fjords, which is critically important to consider in circulation models.

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Astronomers can use supercomputers to simulate the formation of galaxies from the Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago to the present day. But there are a number of sources of error. An international research team has spent a hundred million computer hours over eight years trying to correct these.

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Up to a certain point, very luminous stars can have a positive effect on the formation of planets, but from that point on the radiation they emit can cause the material in protoplanetary discs to disperse.

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Astrobiologists have devised a novel way to determine ocean temperatures of distant worlds based on the thickness of their ice shells, effectively conducting oceanography from space.

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Using archival data from the Gemini North telescope, a team of astronomers has measured the heaviest pair of supermassive black holes ever found. The merging of two supermassive black holes is a phenomenon that has long been predicted, though never observed. This massive pair gives clues as to why such an event seems so unlikely in the Universe.

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An increasing number of seismologists are using fiber optic cables to detect seismic waves on Earth -- but how would this technology fare on the Moon, and what would it tell us about the deep layers of our nearest neighbor in space?

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Researchers have found water vapor in the disc around a young star exactly where planets may be forming. Water is a key ingredient for life on Earth, and is also thought to play a significant role in planet formation. Yet, until now, we had never been able to map how water is distributed in a stable, cool disc -- the type of disc that offers the most favorable conditions for planets to form around stars.

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An international team of astronomers obtained observational evidence for the creation of rare heavy elements in the aftermath of a cataclysmic explosion triggered by the merger of two neutron stars.

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Climate change is heating the oceans, altering currents and circulation patterns responsible for regulating climate on a global scale. If temperatures dropped, some of that damage could theoretically be undone. But employing 'emergency' atmospheric geoengineering later this century in the face of continuous high carbon emissions would not be able to reverse changes to ocean currents, a new study finds. This would critically curtail the intervention's potential effectiveness on human-relevant timescales.

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New research documents the fastest-known large-scale breakage along an Antarctic ice shelf. A 6.5-mile crack formed in 2012 over 5-and-a-half minutes, showing that ice shelves can effectively shatter -- though the speed is limited by seawater rushing in. The results help inform large-scale ice sheet models and projections of future sea level rise.

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Thousands of historic and archaeological sites in Georgia are at risk from tropical storm surges, and that number will increase with climate change, according to a new study.

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Scientists working with data from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) have obtained the first full spectra of some of the earliest starlight in the universe. The images provide the clearest picture yet of very low-mass, newborn galaxies, created less than a billion years after the Big Bang, and suggest the tiny galaxies are central to the cosmic origin story.

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Fish weight in the western North Pacific Ocean dipped in the 2010s due to warmer water limiting food supplies, according to a new study. Researchers analyzed the individual weight and overall biomass of 13 species of fish. In the 1980s and 2010s, the fish were lighter. They attributed the first period of weight loss to greater numbers of Japanese sardine, which increased competition with other species for food. During the 2010s, while the number of Japanese sardine and chub mackerel moderately increased, the effect of climate change warming the ocean appears to have resulted in more competition for food, as cooler, nutrient-dense water could not easily rise to the surface. These results have implications for fisheries and policymakers trying to manage ocean resources under future climate change scenarios.

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Organic materials discovered on Mars may have originated from atmospheric formaldehyde, according to new research, marking a step forward in our understanding of the possibility of past life on the Red Planet.

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On a research cruise focused on marine mammals and seabirds, scientists earned an unexpected bonus: The first-ever documented sighting of a hoary bat flying over the open ocean.

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Among the vast expanse of Antarctica lies the Thwaites Glacier, the world's widest glacier measuring about 80 miles on the western edge of the continent. Despite its size, the massive landform is losing about 50 billion tons of ice more than it is receiving in snowfall, which places it in a precarious position in respect to its stability. Accelerating ice loss has been observed since the 1970s, but it is unclear when this significant melting initiated -- until now. A new study suggests that the significant glacial retreat of two glaciers on the west coast of Antarctica began in the 1940's, likely spurred by climate change.