EurekAlert! - Science News: Marine Science Portal

Public Release: 10-Jan-2012
Scientists look to microbes to unlock Earth's deep secrets
Of all the habitable parts of our planet, one ecosystem still remains largely unexplored and unknown to science: The igneous ocean crust. This rocky realm of hard volcanic lava exists beneath ocean sediments that lie at the bottom of much of the world's oceans. While scientists have estimated that microbes living in deep ocean sediments may represent as much as one-third of Earth's total biomass, the habitable portion of the rocky ocean crust may be 10 times as great.

Public Release: 10-Jan-2012

Nature Communications
World's most extreme deep-sea vents revealed
Scientists have revealed details of the world's most extreme deep-sea volcanic vents, five kilometers down in a rift in the Caribbean seafloor. The undersea hot springs, which lie 0.8 kilometers deeper than any seen before, may be hotter than 450 °C and are shooting a jet of mineral-laden water more than a kilometer into the ocean above.

Natural Environment Research Council

Public Release: 9-Jan-2012

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
WHOI scientists contribute to comprehensive picture of the fate of oil from Deepwater Horizon spill
A new study provides the composite picture of the environmental distribution of oil and gas from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico. It amasses a vast collection of available atmospheric, surface and subsurface chemical data to assemble a "mass balance" of how much oil and gas was released, where it went and the chemical makeup of the compounds that remained in the air, on the surface, and in the deep water.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Public Release: 9-Jan-2012

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Gulf of Mexico topography played key role in bacterial consumption of Deepwater Horizon spill
When scientist David Valentine and colleagues published results of a study in early 2011 reporting that bacterial blooms had consumed almost all the deepwater methane plumes after the 2010 Gulf of Mexico Deepwater Horizon oil spill, some were skeptical.

National Science Foundation

Public Release: 9-Jan-2012
University of Houston wins NASA grant to study Congo River Basin
A University of Houston civil engineer has received a grant from NASA to study the Congo River Basin's approximate 2.3 million square miles.

NASA

Public Release: 9-Jan-2012

Current Biology
'Extinct' for 150 years, an iconic Galápagos giant tortoise species lives
Representatives of a giant tortoise species that had apparently been driven to extinction by humans more than 150 years ago must be alive today, if in very small numbers. Researchers reporting in the Jan. 10 issue of Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, have come to this conclusion based on the "genetic footprints" of the long-lost species Chelonoidis elephantopus in the DNA of their hybrid sons and daughters.

Public Release: 9-Jan-2012

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
UCSB scientists say topography played key role in Deepwater Horizon disaster
When UC Santa Barbara geochemist David Valentine and colleagues published a study in early 2011 documenting how bacteria blooms had consumed almost all of the deepwater methane plumes following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, some people were skeptical. How, they asked, could almost all of the lethal gas emitted from the Deepwater Horizon well just disappear?

Public Release: 6-Jan-2012
University scientists aiding fishermen in butterfish conundrum
Butterfish may sound delicious, but local fishermen would rather keep them out of their nets. The small, silvery fish are protected by fishing limits yet frequently surface in tows when fishermen are trawling for squid. Too much unintended butterfish "bycatch" can get a fishery shut down by regulators for the year – before the squid allocation is caught. University of Delaware researchers are helping to address the problem through a predictive model that will help fishermen avoid butterfish while fishing for squid.

Public Release: 5-Jan-2012
Another outbreak of coral disease hits the reefs of Kane'ohe Bay, O'ahu
Researchers at the Hawai'i Institute of Marine Biology, an organized research unit in the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa's School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology have discovered an outbreak of coral disease called Montipora White Syndrome in Kāneʿohe Bay, Oʿahu.

Contact: Dr. Greta Aeby
greta@hawaii.edu
808-236-7401
University of Hawaii ‑ SOEST

Public Release: 4-Jan-2012

Nature
Russian river water unexpected culprit behind Arctic freshening near US, Canada
A hemisphere-wide phenomenon -- and not just regional forces -- has caused record-breaking amounts of freshwater to accumulate in the Arctic's Beaufort Sea.

National Science Foundation, NASA

Public Release: 4-Jan-2012

Coral Reefs
Fish mimics octopus that mimics fish
Nature's game of intimidation and imitation comes full circle in the waters of Indonesia, where scientists have recorded for the first time an association between the black-marble jawfish and the mimic octopus.

Public Release: 4-Jan-2012

Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology
Salt water alone unlikely to halt Burmese python invasion
Invasive Burmese python hatchlings from the Florida Everglades can withstand exposure to salt water long enough to potentially expand their range through ocean and estuarine environments.

US Geological Survey

Public Release: 4-Jan-2012

PLOS ONE
Harp seals on thin ice after 32 years of warming
Warming in the North Atlantic over the last 32 years has significantly reduced winter sea ice cover in harp seal breeding grounds, resulting in sharply higher death rates among seal pups in recent years, according to a new Duke University-led study.

International Fund for Animal Welfare

Public Release: 3-Jan-2012

PLOS Biology
'Lost world' discovered around Antarctic vents
Communities of species previously unknown to science have been discovered on the seafloor near Antarctica, clustered in the hot, dark environment surrounding hydrothermal vents. The discoveries, made by teams led by the University of Oxford, University of Southampton and British Antarctic Survey, include new species of yeti crab, starfish, barnacles, sea anemones, and potentially an octopus.

Public Release: 30-Dec-2011

Geophysical Research Letters
AGU journal highlights -- Dec. 30 2011
Featured in this release are research papers on the following topics: "Cassini data shows Saturn moon may affect planet's magnetosphere," "Using Loch Ness to track the tilt of the world," "Alaskan lake bed cores show expanding Arctic shrubs may slow erosion," "Evaluating the energy balance of Saturn's moon Titan," "A new way to measure Earth's magnetosphere," and "Waves triggered by lightning leak out of Earth's atmosphere."

Public Release: 28-Dec-2011
Debris scatters in the Pacific Ocean, possibly heading to US
Debris from the tsunami that devastated Japan in March could reach the United States as early as this winter, according to predictions by NOAA scientists. However, they warn there is still a large amount of uncertainty over exactly what is still floating, where it's located, where it will go, and when it will arrive. Responders now have a challenging, if not impossible situation on their hands: How do you deal with debris that could now impact US shores, but is difficult to find?

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, University of Hawaii

Public Release: 27-Dec-2011

Proceedings of the Royal Society B
Frogs use calls to find mates with matching chromosomes, University of Missouri researchers find
When it comes to love songs, female tree frogs are pretty picky. According to a new study from the University of Missouri, certain female tree frogs may be remarkably attuned to the songs of mates who share the same number of chromosomes as they do. The discovery offers insight into how new frog species may have evolved.

National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health

Public Release: 27-Dec-2011

The Thematic Content of the First IPBES Work Programme
Political biodiversity workshops at the University of Copenhagen
As the Danish EU presidency begins, University of Copenhagen will host two workshops preceding the formation of UN's Panel for Biodiversity IPBES (Intergovernmental Panel for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services). The workshops are arranged together with EPBRS (European Platform for Biodiversity Research Strategy) and the Danish Ministry of Environment.

Public Release: 26-Dec-2011

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
NOAA scientists: spilled oil unexpectedly lethal to fish embryos in shallow, sunlit waters
In a study published today in the scientific journal PNAS, NOAA scientists and their collaborators reported Pacific herring embryos in shallow waters died in unexpectedly high numbers following an oil spill in San Francisco Bay, and suggest an interaction between sunlight and the chemicals in oil might be responsible.

Public Release: 26-Dec-2011

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Sunlight and bunker oil a fatal combination for Pacific herring
This study of Pacific herring following the Cosco Busan oil spill suggests that even small spills can have a large impact on marine life, and that common chemical analyses of oil spills may be inadequate.

Public Release: 25-Dec-2011

Nature Neuroscience
Sea snails help scientists explore a possible way to enhance memory
Efforts to help people with learning impairments are being aided by a species of sea snail. The mollusk, which is used by researchers to study the brain, has much in common with other species including humans. At the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, neuroscientists used this animal model to test an innovative learning strategy designed to help improve the brain's memory and the results were encouraging.

National Institutes of Health, Keck Center National Library of Medicine Training Program in Biomedical Informatics of the Gulf Coast Consortia

Public Release: 22-Dec-2011

Geophysical Research Letters
AGU journal highlights -- Dec. 22, 2011
Featured in this release are research papers on the following topics: "When will Antarctic ozone begin to recover?," "Preventing coral bleaching, one hurricane at a time," "Gravity's effect on landslides: A strike against Martian water," "Estimating the destruction caused by remote rockslides," "Continued volcanic activity causes ground uplift in Oregon Cascades," and "Microseismicity could provide clues to sea ice."

Public Release: 22-Dec-2011

Journal of Geophysical Research
Sea cucumbers: Dissolving coral reefs?
Coral reefs are extremely diverse ecosystems that support enormous biodiversity. But they are at risk. Carbon dioxide emissions are acidifying the ocean, threatening reefs and other marine organisms. New research led by Carnegie's Kenneth Schneider analyzed the role of sea cucumbers in portions of the Great Barrier Reef and determined that their dietary process of dissolving calcium carbonate (CaCO3) from the surrounding reef accounts for about half of at the total nighttime dissolution for the reef.

The Moore foundation

Public Release: 22-Dec-2011

PLOS Genetics
UT-ORNL research reveals aquatic bacteria more recent move to land
An analysis by Igor Jouline, University of Tennessee-Oak Ridge National Laboratory joint faculty professor of microbiology, indicates the shift of soil bacteria Azospirillum may have occurred only 400 million years ago, rather than approximately two billion years earlier as originally thought.

Public Release: 21-Dec-2011

PLOS ONE
Comprehensive study makes key findings of ocean pH variations
Some organisms already experiencing ocean acidification levels not predicted to be reached until 2100.

National Science Foundation, David and Lucille Packard Foundation, University of California, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Nature Conservancy, WWW Foundation, Scott and Karin Wilson, Rhodes family, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration