Search Results for: ocean

In these days when it costs nearly $50 a barrel, spilled oil – unlike milk – could be worth crying about, especially in Texas.

A team of Texas A&M University researchers has developed – and continues to refine – a system of buoys in the Gulf of Mexico that can accurately predict the movement of oil spills. Such spills can present Texas-sized problems, both environmentally and economically, to the state’s coastline.

The buoys can even be used to locate ship passengers

Remote ‘marine deserts’ and dense plankton blooms could provide scientists with clues for understanding climate change.
A research team will set sail from Southampton, Friday, 17th September 2004, for the start of an expedition to study the interaction between the atmosphere and plankton – tiny floating marine organisms. By monitoring these organisms and the influence of changing climate on their growth, they hope to discover whether they act as a source of carbon dioxide, or a ‘sink’ in

They hadn’t planned it, but Meriwether Lewis and William Clark picked a fine time for a road trip when they set out to find a water route across the American Northwest two centuries ago.

Leading a small group of explorers, known as the Corps of Discovery, Lewis and Clark experienced favorable climatic conditions from 1804 to 1806 in search of an inland “Northwest Passage,” according to a Georgia State University professor.

The timing of the trip was crucial because ha

Scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey are closely watching the long, thin barrier islands that comprise the Gulf of Mexico coast of west Florida as Hurricane Ivan approaches. These islands are particularly vulnerable to storm surge and coastal change during hurricanes because of their low elevation. New elevation maps show just how vulnerable.

“If Hurricane Ivan comes ashore on west Florida’s barrier islands as a major hurricane, Category 3 or stronger, most of the coast has the potenti

For many years scientists have believed they understood how closely related species that occupy the same regions of the ocean were kept from interbreeding. It turns out they were only seeing part of the picture.

New research from the University of Washington’s Friday Harbor Laboratories shows that common assumptions about sea urchin reproduction don’t hold true for all species of the invertebrate creature. The work could lead to better understanding of fertilization among mammals,

Scientists have long recognized the importance of oceans in our climate. In fact, the unique physical characteristics of our oceans are largely responsible for making the Earth a livable environment. Oceans are major “climate-controllers” because of their large heat capacity. For instance, it requires four times the amount of energy to raise the temperature of water by one degree than it does soil. As a result, over a long period, oceans can store and transport heat from one location to another. Fur