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The Gulf of Mexico (GoM) is an important global hotspot that comprises over 2.1615 million hectares of blue carbon habitats, including mangroves, seagrasses, and salt marshes, which collectively store 480.5 Tg of organic carbon (Corg) just in the upper 1 meter of sediment. Some of these important areas of carbon sequestration are protected or conserved, […]
Read MoreWhy don’t we see ocean acidification in over a decade of high-frequency observations in the Gulf of Maine? The answer lies in a recent decade of changes that raised sea surface temperature and salinity, and in turn dampened the expected acidification signal and caused the saturation states of calcite minerals to increase. From 2004 to […]
Read MoreNitrous oxide (N2O) is a potent greenhouse gas with rising atmospheric concentrations. Atmospheric emissions of N2O are predicted to increase with continued anthropogenic perturbation of the nitrogen cycle, yet the magnitude of these emissions is uncertain, particularly in coastal systems where N2O fluxes are poorly constrained. How do N2O emissions from a eutrophic estuary vary […]
Read MoreGas hydrates are an ice-like storehouse of the greenhouse gas methane found in continental margins of the world ocean. Warming waters can cause hydrates to decompose and release ancient methane to overlying sediment and waters. The continental shelves of the Arctic Ocean have been thought of as “ground zero” for the potential release of methane […]
Read MoreThe Southern Ocean is iron (Fe)-limited, and increased fluxes of dust-borne Fe to the Southern Ocean during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) have been associated with phytoplankton growth and CO2 drawdown. Dust contains different mixes of Fe-bearing minerals, depending on the source region. Fe(II) silicate minerals from physical weathering are more bioavailable than Fe(III) oxyhydroxide […]
Read MoreSince the beginning of the industrial revolution, human activities have greatly increased atmospheric CO2 concentrations, leading to global warming and indicating an urgent need to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. The Martin (or iron) hypothesis suggests that ocean iron fertilization (OIF) could be a low-cost effective method for reducing atmospheric CO2 levels by stimulating carbon […]
Read MoreOne of the biggest unsolved mysteries in climate science concerns the dynamics and feedbacks of the ice age carbon dioxide (CO2) cycle. At the height of the Pleistocene ice ages, the atmospheric CO2 concentration was about 1/3 lower than during the warm interglacial periods. Most scientists think that the CO2 that was missing from the […]
Read MoreOxygen minimum zones (OMZs) are thought to be regions of the global ocean where a greater percentage of the organic carbon associated with particles makes it to depth. Currently covering 8% of the world’s ocean area, these low oxygen regions are expected to expand as a result climate change. It is therefore vital to understand […]
Read MoreThe ocean is one of the largest sinks of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) on our planet, driven in part by CO2 uptake by phytoplankton in the upper ocean during photosynthesis. Eventually, a portion of the resulting organic carbon is transported to depth, where it is sequestered from the atmosphere for centuries or even millennia. Our […]
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