Ocean Sciences

May GeoRoundUp: the best of the Earth sciences from around the web

Laura Roberts-Artal June 7, 2017

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius - President of the COP21 climate change conference - bangs down the gavel on December 12, 2015, after representatives of 196 countries approved a sweeping environmental agreement during a multinational meeting at LeBourget Airport in Paris, France. Credit: U.S. Department of State from United States [Public domain], distributed by Wikimedia Commons

Drawing inspiration from popular stories on our social media channels, as well as unique and quirky research news, this monthly column aims to bring you the best of the Earth and planetary sciences from around the web. Major Story In the last couple of weeks of May, the news world was abuzz with the possibility of Donald Trump withdrawing from the Paris Agreement. Though the announcement actually ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: Polar backbone (Arctic Ocean)

Grace Shephard May 15, 2017

Polar backbone (Arctic Ocean) . Credit: Grace Shephard (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu).

This image was taken during the Arctic Ocean 2016(AO16) expedition that ventured to the central regions of the Arctic Ocean, including the North Pole. It shows a pressure ridge, or ice ridge, as viewed from onboard the deck of the icebreaker Oden. It was quite striking that the ice ridge resembled an image of a spine – sea ice being a defining characteristic of the broader Arctic environment and b ...[Read More]

April GeoRoundUp: the best of the Earth sciences from the 2017 General Assembly

Laura Roberts-Artal May 4, 2017

This diagram created by Cassini's mission planning team shows how navigators use Titan flybys to shape Cassini's orbits. Credit NASA / Jet Propulsion Laboratory - Caltech / Erick Sturm

This month’s GeoRoundUp is a slight deviation from the norm. Instead of drawing inspiration from popular stories on our social media channels and unique or quirky research featured in the news, we’ve rounded up some of the stories which came out of researcher presented at our General Assembly (which took place last week in Vienna). The traditional format for the column will return in May! Major st ...[Read More]

Knowing the ocean’s twists and turns

Conor Purcell April 12, 2017

The ocean’s currents . Credit: Canuckguy (talk) and many others (see File history) derivative work (distributed via Wikimedia Commons )

Navigating the ocean demands a knowledge of its movements. In the past, sailors have used this knowledge to their advantage, following the winds and the ocean currents to bring them on their way. Prior to mutiny in 1789, Captain Bligh – on the HMS Bounty – famously spent a month attempting to pass westward through the Drake Passage, around Patagonia’s Cape Horn. Here the westerly ...[Read More]