Ocean Sciences

Imaggeo on Mondays: Penguins – a biogeochemical link between sea and land

Daniel Wasner May 6, 2019

Linking Sea to Land. Credit: Daniel Wasner (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

A couple of Chinstrap penguins (Pygoscelis antarctica) at their nesting site on Deception Island, maritime Antarctica. Sea birds contribute importantly to biogeochemical cycles in coastal ecosystems and on islands. Feeding on the marine food chain and nesting on land, they carry large amounts of marine nutrients into terrestrial ecosystems. This might be of particular importance for the nitrogen ( ...[Read More]

GeoTalk: “Grown-ups are not focusing on the plastic problem, not as much as I want them to”

Maria Rubal Thomsen April 24, 2019

We caught up with Lucie Parsons, a ten-year old girl from Walkington, England, who is on a personal mission to save the environment from plastic pollution. She and her mother presented at the EGU General Assembly 2019 earlier this month. Credit: Maria Rubal Thomsen

Lucie Parsons, a ten-year old girl from the small village of Walkington, in England, is on a personal mission to save the environment from plastic pollution. After seeing on the BBC Blue Planet II documentary how litter in the ocean is damaging ecosystems, she decided to take action. Now she gives talks and is co-researcher in her mother’s PhD on climate change and the youth voice. Lucie has come ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: The calm before the storm

Markus Benninghoff January 20, 2019

Kielwasser / Wake behind FS Heincke. Credit: Markus Benninghoff (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu).

The picture was taken during the 2015 research cruise HE441 in the southern German Bight, North Sea. It features the research vessel Heincke, on a remarkably calm and warm spring day, forming a seemingly steady wake. The roughly 55 metre long FS Heincke, owned by the German federal government and operated by the Alfred Wegener Institute, provides a great platform for local studies of the North Sea ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: Crowned elephant seals do citizen science

Olivia Trani January 7, 2019

Crowned Elephant Seal. Credit: Etienne Pauthenet (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu).

In the Southern Ocean and North Pacific lives a peculiar type of elephant seal. This group acts like any other marine mammal; they dive deep into the ocean, chow down on fish, and sunbathe on the beach. However, they do all this with scientific instruments attached to their heads. While the seals carry out their usual activities, the devices collect important oceanographic data that help scientist ...[Read More]