Oceans

An ocean emergency is upon us. Can the world reverse ocean decline?

Gillian D'Souza July 8, 2022

Liu Zhenmin addresses the Sustainable Blue Economy Investment Forum. Photo credit: UN DESA / Helen Daun Rosengren

“The ocean is not too big to fail, nor is it too big to fix, but it is too important to ignore.” Last week, Dr Jane Lubchenco voiced a thought we’ve all had at some point: that the ocean is so vast and bountiful, it is almost inconceivable that people could impact it. And yet… Speaking to more than 20 Heads of State and Government, and an audience of thousands of policymakers, ocean scientists, bu ...[Read More]

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

Olivia Trani October 2, 2019

The retreating Pilatte Glacier located in the massif des Ecrins in the French Alps. A new IPCC report details how such cryospheric environments will fare in the future as our climate changes. Credit: Alexis Merlaud (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu).

Drawing inspiration from popular stories on our social media channels, major geoscience headlines, as well as unique and quirky research, this monthly column aims to bring you the latest Earth and planetary science news from around the web. Major stories Latest IPCC report puts the oceans and cryosphere in focus Last month the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) releas ...[Read More]

Mapping Ancient Oceans

Grace Shephard September 14, 2017

An example of a new map identifying potential chunks of ancient oceans now located deep inside Earth. A vote map at 1400 km depth has been projected to the surface, and is overlain with the position of the continents (grey-white) at around 120 Million years ago. Credit: G Shephard (CEED/UiO) using GPlates software.

This guest post is by Dr Grace Shephard, a postdoctoral researcher in tectonics and geodynamics at the Centre of Earth Evolution and Dynamics (CEED) at the University of Oslo, Norway. This blog entry describes the latest findings of a study that maps deep remnants of past oceans. Her open access study, in collaboration with colleagues at CEED and the University of Oxford, was published this week i ...[Read More]

Geosciences Column: Three hundred years probing the deep seas

Laura Roberts-Artal January 22, 2016

The depths of the deep blue have fascinated explorers, scientists and humanity for centuries. And is it any wonder? 71% of the Earth’s surface is covered by oceans teaming with riches, from unique forms of life to precious metals.Even today, there are vast regions of the ocean floors that remain unexplored and of which we know very little about. Some might argue the oceans are the last unexplored ...[Read More]