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Categories: Biology: Marine, Geoscience: Oceanography

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Biology: Biochemistry Biology: General Biology: Marine Offbeat: General Offbeat: Paleontology and Archeology Offbeat: Plants and Animals Paleontology: Fossils Paleontology: General
Published

Surprisingly vibrant color of 12-million-year-old snail shells      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Snail shells are often colorful and strikingly patterned. This is due to pigments that are produced in special cells of the snail and stored in the shell in varying concentrations. Fossil shells, on the other hand, are usually pale and inconspicuous because the pigments are very sensitive and have already decomposed. Residues of ancient color patterns are therefore very rare. This makes a new discovery all the more astonishing: researchers found pigments in twelve-million-year-old fossilized snail shells.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: General Biology: Marine Biology: Zoology Ecology: Animals Ecology: Endangered Species Ecology: Sea Life Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Surprising behavior in one of the least studied mammals in the world      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Beaked whales are among the least studied mammals in the world. Now, a new study reveals surprising information about the Baird's beaked whale species.

Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Geology Geoscience: Oceanography Paleontology: Climate
Published

Ice cores provide first documentation of rapid Antarctic ice loss in the past      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers have uncovered the first direct evidence that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet shrunk suddenly and dramatically at the end of the Last Ice Age, around eight thousand years ago. The evidence, contained within an ice core, shows that in one location the ice sheet thinned by 450 meters -- that's more than the height of the Empire State Building -- in just under 200 years.

Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Geology Geoscience: Oceanography Paleontology: Climate Paleontology: General
Published

What turned Earth into a giant snowball 700 million years ago? Scientists now have an answer      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Inspired during field work in South Australia's Flinders Ranges, geoscientists have proposed that all-time low volcanic carbon dioxide emissions triggered a 57-million-year-long global 'Sturtian' ice age.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Biology: Marine Biology: Microbiology Ecology: Sea Life
Published

Remarkable cellular architecture and phylogenetic position of the mysterious arm-swinging protist meteora sporadica      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Researchers studied in detail the strange protist Meteora sporadica, which swings its two lateral arms back and forth. The results of the study indicated that M. sporadica has a complex cytoskeleton that is closely related to Hemimastigophora, a group of organisms considered to be one of the deepest branches of eukaryotes.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Marine Biology: Zoology Ecology: Animals Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: Water Geoscience: Geography
Published

Number of shark bites consistent with recent trends, with small spike in fatalities      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

There was an increase in the number of unprovoked shark attacks worldwide and an uptick in fatalities in 2023 compared to the previous year. A scientific database of global shark attacks, confirmed 69 unprovoked bites in 2023. Although this is higher than the most recent five-year average of 63 attacks, the data remain consistent with long-term trends.

Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Geology Geoscience: Oceanography
Published

Study challenges the classical view of the origin of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and warns of its vulnerability      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The Circumpolar Current works as a regulator of the planet's climate. Its origins were thought to have caused the formation of the permanent ice in Antarctica about 34 million years ago. Now, a study has cast doubt on this theory, and has changed the understanding of how the ice sheet in Antarctic developed in the past, and what this could mean in the future as the planet's climate changes.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Botany Biology: Cell Biology Biology: General Biology: Genetics Biology: Marine Biology: Microbiology Biology: Molecular Ecology: Sea Life Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography
Published

Vitamin B12 adaptability in Antarctic algae has implications for climate change, life in the Southern Ocean      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

The algae P. antarctica has two forms of the enzyme that makes the amino acid methionine, one needing B12, and one that is slower, but doesn't need it. This means it has the ability to adapt and survive with low B12 availability. The presence of the MetE gene in P. antarctica gives the algae the ability to adapt to lower vitamin B12 availability, giving it a potential advantage to bloom in the early austral spring when bacterial production is low. P. antarctica takes in the CO2 and releases oxygen through photosynthesis. Understanding its ability to grow in environments with low vitamin B12 availability can help climate modelers make more accurate predictions.

Biology: General Biology: Marine Biology: Zoology Ecology: Animals Ecology: Sea Life Offbeat: General Offbeat: Plants and Animals
Published

Clown anemonefish seem to be counting bars and laying down the law      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

We often think of fish as carefree swimmers in the ocean, reacting to the world around them without much forethought. However, new research suggests that our marine cousins may be more cognizant than we credit them for. Fish may be counting vertical bars on intruders to determine their threat level, and to inform the social hierarchy governing their sea anemone colonies.

Biology: Marine Ecology: Nature Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography
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Tidal landscapes a greater carbon sink than previously thought      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Mangroves and saltmarshes sequester large amounts of carbon, mitigating the greenhouse effect. New research shows that these environments are perhaps twice as effective as previously thought.

Chemistry: Biochemistry Chemistry: General Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography
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Engineers unmask nanoplastics in oceans for the first time, revealing their true shapes and chemistry      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Millions of tons of plastic waste enter the oceans each year. The sun's ultraviolet light and ocean turbulence break down these plastics into invisible nanoparticles that threaten marine ecosystems. In a new study, engineers have presented clear images of nanoplastics in ocean water off the coasts of China, South Korea and the United States, and in the Gulf of Mexico. These tiny plastic particles, which originated from such consumer products as water bottles, food packaging and clothing, were found to have surprising diversity in shape and chemical composition.

Biology: Marine Biology: Zoology Ecology: Animals Ecology: Extinction Ecology: Sea Life
Published

Floating algae a raft for juvenile pelagic fish      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Floating macroalgal acts as a raft that provides habitat for a diverse array of juvenile oceanic fish a new study has found. The study conducted in the Ningaloo Coast World Heritage Area, Western Australia, revealed that fish were more abundant around macroalgal rafts than in open water, with eleven species of juvenile fishes associated with Sargassum rafts, and one species of both juveniles and adults.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Marine Ecology: Invasive Species Ecology: Sea Life Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Environmental: Water Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography
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As sea otters recolonize California estuary, they restore its degraded geology      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

As sea otters recolonize a California estuary, they are restoring its degraded geology by keeping populations of overgrazing marsh crabs in check, a new study shows. The crabs' appetite for plant roots, and their tunneling behavior had caused many of the estuary's marshes and creekbanks to erode and collapse in the otters' absence. Today, erosion has slowed by up to 90% in areas with large otter populations and marshes and streambeds are restabilizing.

Biology: Biochemistry Biology: Cell Biology Biology: Marine Biology: Microbiology Biology: Zoology Ecology: Sea Life
Published

A green alternative for treating Streptococcus iniae bacteria in hybrid striped bass      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Scientists have developed a green antibiotic alternative to treat the deadly pathogen Streptococcus iniae in hybrid striped bass, the fourth most farmed finfish in the United States, according to a recent study.

Environmental: General Geoscience: Earth Science Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography
Published

Geoengineering may slow Greenland ice sheet loss      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Modeling shows that stratospheric aerosol injection has the potential to reduce ice sheet loss due to climate change.

Ecology: General Environmental: Ecosystems Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography
Published

New research shows how pollutants from aerosols and river run-off are changing the marine phosphorus cycle in coastal seas      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

New research sheds light on how pollutants from aerosols and river run-off are impacting coastal seas. The research identified an 'Anthropogenic Nitrogen Pump' which changes the phosphorus cycle and therefore likely coastal biodiversity and associated ecosystem services.

Chemistry: General Chemistry: Inorganic Chemistry Environmental: General Geoscience: Environmental Issues Geoscience: Geochemistry Geoscience: Geography Geoscience: Oceanography
Published

Some plastic straws degrade quicker than others      (via sciencedaily.com)     Original source 

Not all plastics are created the same, and some last longer in the ocean than others. Scientists have been working for years to quantify the environmental lifetimes of a wide range of plastic goods to see which have the shortest and longest lifespans in the ocean. To determine what plastics persist in the ocean, the team tests different products in large tanks that recreate the natural ocean environment.