Earth's early ocean cooled more than a billion years earlier than thought: Stanford study
The scalding-hot sea that supposedly covered the early Earth may in fact never have existed, according to a new study by Stanford University researchers who analyzed isotope ratios in 3.4 billion-year-old ocean floor rocks. view more (2009-11-12)
Climate variability impacts the deep sea
Deep-sea ecosystems occupying 60% of the Earth's surface could be vulnerable to the effects of global warming warn scientists writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. view more (2009-11-03)
HyBIS explores the Casablanca seamount
In October, the hydraulic benthic interactive sampler HyBIS maintained by the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (NOCS) made ten dives over the Casablanca Seamount, a four-kilometre high seamount located some 300 miles west of Morocco. view more (2009-11-02)
Autosub6000 dives to depth of 3.5 miles
The United Kingdom's deepest diving Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV), Autosub6000, has been put through its paces during an extremely successful engineering trials cruise on the RRS Discovery, 27 September to 17 October 2009. view more (2009-10-29)
Scientists visualize assembly line gears in ribosomes, cell's protein factory
Even as research on the ribosome, one of the cell's most basic machines, is recognized with a Nobel Prize, scientists continue to achieve new insights on the way ribosomes work. view more (2009-10-16)
All the carbon counts
Cutting down forests for agriculture vents excess carbon dioxide into the air just as industrial activities and the burning of fossil fuels do. view more (2009-05-29)
Asteroid attack 3.9 billion years ago may have enhanced early life on Earth, says CU-Boulder study
The bombardment of Earth nearly 4 billion years ago by asteroids as large as Kansas would not have had the firepower to extinguish potential early life on the planet and may even have given it a boost, says a new University of Colorado at Boulder study. view more (2009-05-21)
Marine scientists return from expedition to erupting undersea volcano
Scientists who have just returned from an expedition to an erupting undersea volcano near the Island of Guam report that the volcano appears to be continuously active, has grown considerably in size during the past three years, and its activity supports a unique biological community thriving despite the eruptions. view more (2009-05-06)
Monitoring Yellowstone earthquake swarms
The Seismological Society of America (SSA) is an international scientific society devoted to the advancement of seismology and its applications in understanding and mitigating earthquake hazards and in imaging the structure of the earth. view more (2009-04-10)
Deep-sea rocks point to early oxygen on Earth
Red jasper cored from layers 3.46 billion years old suggests that not only did the oceans contain abundant oxygen then, but that the atmosphere was as oxygen rich as it is today, according to geologists. view more (2009-03-25)
Earth's highest known microbial systems fueled by volcanic gases
Gases rising from deep within the Earth are fueling the world's highest-known microbial ecosystems, which have been detected near the rim of the 19,850-foot-high Socompa volcano in the Andes by a University of Colorado at Boulder research team. view more (2009-03-04)
Great Lake's sinkholes host exotic ecosystems
Researchers are exploring extreme conditions for life in a place not known for extremes. As little as 20 meters (66 feet) below the surface of Lake Huron, the third largest of North America's Great Lakes, peculiar geological formations-sinkholes made by water dissolving parts of an ancient underlying seabed-harbor bizarre ecosystems where the fish... view more... (2009-02-25)
Evidence of ancient hot springs on Mars detailed in Astrobiology journal
Data from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) suggest the discovery of ancient springs in the Vernal Crater, sites where life forms may have evolved on Mars, according to a report in Astrobiology, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. view more (2009-02-12)
Genetic adaptations key to microbe's survival in challenging environment
The genome of a marine bacterium living 2,500 meters below the ocean's surface is providing clues to how life adapts in extreme thermal and chemical gradients, according to an article published Feb. 6 in the journal PLoS Genetics, an open-access publication published by the Public Library of Science. view more (2009-02-11)
No joy in discoveries of new mammal species -- only a warning for humanity, Paul Ehrlich says
In the era of global warming, when many scientists say we are experiencing a human-caused mass extinction to rival the one that killed off the dinosaurs, one might think that the discovery of a host of new species would be cause for joy. view more (2009-02-10)
News Release : Carbon Acts Like Rustoleum Around Hydrothermal Vents
The cycling of iron throughout the oceans has been an area of intense research for the last two decades. Oceanographers have spent a lot of time studying what has been affectionately labeled the Geritol effect ever since discovering that the lack of iron is a reason why phytoplankton grow lackadaisically in some of the most nutrient-rich surface... view more... (2009-02-10)
A Zen discovery: Unrusted iron in ocean
Iron dust, the gold of the oceans and rarest nutrient for most marine life, can be washed down by rivers or blown out to sea or - a surprising new study finds - float up from the sea floor. view more (2009-02-09)
U of Minnesota-led study reveals mysteries of deep-sea nutrients
Iron dust, the rare but necessary nutrient for most life, can not only be washed into the ocean from rivers or blown out to sea, but it can bubble up from the depths of the ocean floor, a new study led by a University of Minnesota scientist shows. view more (2009-02-09)
Iron on its route to the sea-floor: A new path
Iron dust, the rarest nutrient for most marine life, can be washed down by rivers or blown out to sea or--a surprising new study finds--float up from the sea floor in the material spewed from hydrothermal vents. view more (2009-02-09)
Ancient geologic escape hatches mistaken for tube worms
Tubeworms have been around for millions of years and the fossil record is rich with their distinctive imprints. But a discovery made by U of C scientists found that what previous researchers had labeled as tubeworms in a formation near Denver, Colorado, are actually 70 million-year-old escape hatches for methane. view more (2009-02-05)
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