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Categories: Biology: Marine, Geoscience: Earthquakes

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A new study examined nitrogen fixation among diazotrophs--microorganisms that can convert nitrogen into usable form for other plants and animals -- living among sargassum. Sargassum, a brown macroalgae in the seaweed family, floats on the surface of the open ocean and provides habitat for a colorful array of marine life such as small fish, brine shrimp and other microorganisms. Previous studies have overlooked diazotrophs associated with sargassum, which could mean a historical underestimation of nitrogen fixation in the Atlantic nitrogen budget. The study found that nitrogen fixation in sargassum communities was significant.

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As global climate change causes weather extremes ranging from heat waves and droughts to heavy rains and flooding, the large amounts of freshwater pouring into nearshore ecosystems are altering habitats. A team of biologists studied the impacts of low salinity and how it alters sea urchins' ability to grip and move within their habitat.

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A chemical process used in the browning of food to give it its distinct smell and taste is probably happening deep in the oceans, where it helped create the conditions necessary for life. Known as the Maillard reaction after the French scientist who discovered it, the process converts small molecules of organic carbon into bigger molecules known as polymers. In the kitchen, it is used to create flavors and aromas out of sugars. But a research team argues that on the sea floor, the process has had a more fundamental effect, where it has helped to raise oxygen and reduce carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, to create the conditions for complex life forms to emerge and thrive on Earth.

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The same fiber optic networks that provide internet can simultaneously act as earthquake sensors, as demonstrated in a new study.

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Human-caused climate change has also caused extreme ocean temperatures and conditions with detrimental impacts on marine ecosystems and ocean-related ecology.  A new study explores ocean temperature data along California's Coast, finding that certain environmental conditions and the state of the ocean led to an enhanced risk for marine heatwaves and cold spells, conditions that scientists and environmental managers will need to monitor to preserve and protect vital ecosystems critical to the California ocean economy, known as the Blue Economy.

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Royal Ontario Museum announces the oldest swimming jellyfish in the fossil record with the newly named Burgessomedusa phasmiformis. This 505-million-year-old swimming jellyfish from the Burgess Shale highlights diversity in the Cambrian ecosystem.

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A newly published study describes the response to sea level rise by the silver rice rat, an endangered species only found in the Florida Keys.

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A new study uses nearly a century of data to show that the average heights of winter waves along the California coast have increased as climate change has heated up the planet.

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With mighty jaws and plate-like teeth, the globally endangered whitespotted eagle ray can pretty much crunch on anything. Yet, little information is available on critical components of their life history in the U.S., such as their diet. A study is the first use DNA barcoding to uncover the finer-scale feeding patterns of this protected species in Florida. The surprising results have important implications for both shellfish enhancement activities and species management.

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Slow earthquakes are slow-slip phenomena that last many days or months, and you barely notice them. In 2007, researchers proposed how the magnitude and duration of earthquakes vary, which can help differentiate slow and fast earthquakes. Seismologists now bolster the proposed relation with more data. They suggest the presence of a speed limit to slow earthquakes and reveal physical processes that differentiate slow and fast earthquakes. Since slow earthquakes could indicate future fast earthquakes, monitoring and understanding them helps accurately forecast devastating earthquakes and tsunamis.

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Scientists found that trout from lakes stocked decades ago in the Wind River Mountains have higher numbers of gill rakers, which are bony or cartilage structures in the gullets of fish that act as sieves to retain zooplankton and nourish the trout. The difference is likely a result of the trout adapting to the food sources of the once-fishless high-mountain lakes -- a change that has taken place in a relatively short period of time and at a rate that is generally consistent with the historic timing of stocking for each of the lakes.

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The smallest member of the filter-feeding family is one of the only whale species not to embark on seasonal migrations, new research finds.

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Four decades of conservation spending totaling more than $9 billion in inflation-adjusted tax dollars has failed to improve stocks of wild salmon and steelhead in the Columbia River Basin.

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Resilient corals, often referred to as 'super corals', have recently been seen as potential saviours in the face of climate change and its detrimental effects on coral reefs. Now, a team of scientists is working to better understand these corals in order to develop strategies to protect fragile ecosystems such as the Great Barrier Reef.

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Over the last several years, the residents of Santa Monica, a coastal city on the edge of Los Angeles, saw something neither they, their parents, or perhaps even their grandparents had ever seen before: a three-foot-tall dune system rising gently from the flat, groomed expanse of one of the world's most famous urban beaches. It's a six year alliance between sand, wind and vegetation, and, according to researchers, it's one way to enlist nature to help protect the coast from the impacts of climate change.

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Arctic terns -- which fly on the longest migrations of any animal on Earth -- may be able to navigate the dangers posed by climate change, new research suggests.

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Scientists have discovered a new species of marine cryptofauna in the Florida Keys. Cryptofauna are the tiny, hidden, organisms that make up the majority of biodiversity in the ocean. The tiny crustaceans are the first new gnathiid isopod to be discovered from the Floridian ecoregion in 100 years and are named after singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett.

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Much of central Utah's seismic activity comes in groups of small earthquakes. A study by seismologists examines 2,300 quakes occurring 40 'swarms' dating back to 1981, opening a window into Earth's crust in a geothermally active area.

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Scientists used seismic data discovered Earth's inner core displays a variety of textures that it acquired will it formed from within the fluid outer core. The data set was generated over the past 27 years by a network of seismometers set up to enforce the nuclear test ban treaty.

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An international research team has discovered that a subduction zone's age affects the ability for it to recycle water between the Earth's surface and its inner layers. The more mature the subduction zone, the bigger the water storage capacity.