Topic Feature

Plankton, By Any Other Name

February 6, 2019

Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms found in water that provide a crucial source of food to many small and large aquatic organisms, such as bivalves, fish and whales.

The Watery World of Salps

A salp is a barrel-shaped, planktic tunicate that moves by pumping water through its gelatinous body, and can be seen as a single organism or in long, stringy colonies.

Deep-sea Corals

When most people think of corals, they think of the Great Barrier Reef off Australia, but deep in the ocean much smaller coral formations lie past the point where light penetrates.

Spray gliders are autonomous underwater vehicles that glide through the ocean to measure sea temperature, current velocity and other parameters at different elevations throughout water column. The measurements are taken…

Submerged Autonomous Launch Platforms

Amy Bower wanted to investigate an elusive and unpredictable phenomenon in a remote ocean. Off the west coast of Greenland, large, spinning rings of warm water, called eddies, occasionally form…

RAFOS Float

What is it and why do we use it? The name RAFOS is the word SOFAR spelled backwards. SOFAR is an acronym for SOund Fixing And Ranging, which refers to…

Carbon Dioxide in Seawater

When carbon dioxide mixes with seawater it has the effect of reducing the availability of carbonate ions, which many marine organisms need to build their shells.

The pH Scale

pH is a measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions in a solution. The more hydrogen ions that are present, the more acidic is the solution. The pH scale ranges from zero (very acidic) to 14 (very basic).

FAQs about Ocean Acidification

These questions were widely distributed to the research community with the request to draft concise replies summarizing current knowledge with peer review.

How Old is that Volcano?

One of the most common questions that scientists and nature lovers ask when they see an interesting rock is: how old is it?

Lava Flows

When a volcano erupts, the molten rock that comes out of the Earth is called lava. Lava is so hot, it remains molten and flows until it cools and hardens into rock.

Watch What You Eat

Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) can take a variety of forms, each with a distinct and disturbing impact on human health.

Nootka Buoy

What is it and why do we use it? The Nootka buoy offers scientists the equivalent of a wireless hotspot in the middle of the deep ocean. The only catch…

Autonomous Hydrophone Array (AHA)

Hydrophone arrays “hear” and record sound waves generated by seismic events, submarines, or whales, and are installed in places that don’t block sound wave transmission.

Interested in Helping us Study Rivers?

What you need to do We are looking for samples from most large rivers close to the ocean. If you live or are traveling to a river you think would…

A Rising Tide Along the Coast

Never before has coastal research been more relevant and more important to society’s well being. The numbers are staggering: More than 155 million people (53 percent of the population) reside…

Dating Corals, Knowing the Ocean

Coral is a useful tool for scientists who want to understand changes in past climate, but recalling that history presents its own set of challenges.

Global Warming Q&A

Introduction The following Q&A was developed from a panel discussion held in Woods Hole as part of the Institution’s spring trustee meeting, May 19, 2006. The discussion was introduced by…

Q&A: IPCC 5th Assessment Report

AR5 Working Group I Final ReportClimate 2013: The Physical Science Basis What is the IPCC? The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is an international body responsible for assessing the…

The Heat Before the Cold

April 18, 2002 This week’s unexpected heat wave across much of the Northeast and Midwest, couple with recent reports about the surprisingly fast collapse of an Antarctic ice shelf the…

Are We on the Brink of a ‘New Little Ice Age?’

Evidence for abrupt climate change is readily apparent in ice cores taken from Greenland and Antarctica.

Abrupt Climate Change: Should We Be Worried?

Fossil evidence demonstrates that Earth’s climate can shift within a decade, establishing new and different patterns that can persist for decades to centuries.