A new study sheds light on the driving force behind the grand sprite fireworks—lightning and thunderstorms.

New research explains why more than 200 weedy seadragons were found dead on beaches in the Sydney, Australia region.

A team from the Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, studied the sediments that Hurricanes Fabian (2003) and Igor (2010) transported from the Bermuda carbonate platform -- a shallow-water reef refuge for marine life – and deposited to the deep ocean. They found significant effects on the deep ocean environment that lasted for weeks. Hurricane Fabian delivered as much sediment to the deep ocean in just two weeks as would normally take a full year to accumulate. These sediments -- carbonate-rich material that forms in the thriving ecosystem on reef platforms -- have major effects on the ocean environment. If they get buried in deep sediments, they can sequester carbon for millennia or more. They can also provide a buffering effect to help offset ocean acidification, a consequence of rising atmospheric CO₂ concentrations. The scientists, from the MBL's Oceanic Flux Program, published their data in Journal of Geophysical Research - Oceans.