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Ocean Encounters: Geology Rocks!

Join us as we talk with three people with very different jobs—all in geology—about how they got into the field and where their careers are taking them.

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What’s for dinner, deep-sea isopod?

Four miles below the surface, scientists in #Alvin witnessed this rarely-seen invertebrate paddling along with oar-like legs in search of its next meal. In a recently-published study, #WHOI researchers share another surprise: that seaweed they’re munching on isn’t native to the seafloor!

📲 Find out what it is– and how this species has adapted over time: go.whoi.edu/isopod-food

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The Biological Pump

biological pump

Used in Oceanus magazine, Vol. 54, No. 1, pg. 19. (Illustration by Eric S. Taylor, © Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

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The Equatorial Undercurrent

At the equator, trade winds push a surface current from east to west. About 100 to 200 meters below, a swift countercurrent flows in the opposite direction. This Equatorial Undercurrent…

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The Biological Pump

biological pump

Used in Oceanus magazine, Vol. 54, No. 1, pg. 19. (Illustration by Eric S. Taylor, © Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

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Edible Seaweed

Edible Seaweed

Humans have eaten seaweed for centuries—pickled, dried, and raw—adding a deep savory flavor known as umami. When farmed, seaweed improves water quality and absorbs excess carbon. Some varieties provide as…

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How do corals form colonies?

coral colonies

If you stare at just one spot on a coral reef, your eyes could be seeing more than 1,000 animals per square foot. That’s because the thing that makes up most of these marine ecosystems are tiny living animals called coral polyps, which exist on the surface of reef formations. Hundreds or thousands of identical polyps live together to form a colony. So, how do these tiny creatures build and maintain such large colonies?

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Where does all the carbon go?

underwater

Like car windows on a sunny day, carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases help trap the sun’s heat, keeping it close to Earth’s surface. To an extent, this is a good thing. Without that warming, Earth would be a ball of ice. But too much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere means too much warming. The key to preventing runaway climate change is to remove excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, but where can it go?

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What are marine microplastics?

microplastics

A 2015 study estimated that roughly eight million tons of plastics enter the world’s oceans each year, yet only one percent is found floating at the surface in visible form. This suggests that the bulk of plastics in the ocean are likely microplastics suspended in the water or buried in sediments—yet scientists are only beginning to understand where they might be, not to mention their potential impacts on ocean life, ecosystems, and human health.

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A robot to explore the dark ocean!

meet mesobot

We designed Mesobot, our new hybrid robot, specifically to study life in the ocean twilight zone. It can maneuver under its own power for more than 24 hours, using its cameras and lights to slowly follow individual animals while making a variety of other measurements and even taking samples.

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