GeoLog

Ocean Sciences

GeoTalk: Investigating the transport of plastic pollution in the oceans

GeoTalk: Investigating the transport of plastic pollution in the oceans

Geotalk is a regular feature highlighting early career researchers and their work. In this interview we speak to Erik van Sebille, an oceanographer at the Grantham Institute at Imperial Collage London, and winner of the 2016 OS Outstanding Young Scientist Award. As an expert in understanding how oceans transport all kinds of materials, from water and heat through to plastics, Erik has gained detai ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: what corals can tell us about past climate change

Imaggeo on Mondays: what corals can tell us about past climate change

Reconstructing past climates is a tricky task at the best of times. It requires an ample data set and a good understanding of proxies. Add into the mix some underwater fieldwork and the challenge got a whole lot harder! In today’s Imaggeo on Monday’s post, Isaac Kerlow explains how information locked in corals can tell the story of past climates and how important it is, not only to carry out the r ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: Coastal erosion

Imaggeo on Mondays: Coastal erosion

Coastlines take a battering from stormy seas, gales, windy conditions and every-day wave action. The combined effect of these processes shapes coastal landscapes across the globe. In calm weather, constructive waves deposit materials eroded elsewhere and transported along the coast line via longshore-drift, onto beaches, thus building them up. Terrestrial material, brought to beaches by rivers and ...[Read More]

Methane seeps – oases in the deep Arctic Ocean

Methane seeps – oases in the deep Arctic Ocean

The deep Arctic Ocean is not known for its wildlife. 1200 metres from the surface, well beyond where light penetrates the water and at temperatures below zero, it it’s a desolate, hostile environment. There are, however, exceptions to this, most notably around seeps in the seafloor that leak methane into the water above. Here, methane is the fuel for life, not sunlight, creating oases in an otherw ...[Read More]