oceanography
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Underwater Mountains Twice the Height of the Burj Khalifa Discovered Off the Chilean Coast
The crew of the Falkor (too) research vessel is at it again: In January, the team discovered four underwater mountains off the coast of Chile. The vessel has now identified 29 seamounts, hills, and trenches since 2012. The seamounts range in height from 5,220 feet (1,591 meters) to a staggering 8,796 feet (2,681 meters). For…
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90% of Species in an Area Slated for Deep-Sea Mining Might Be Unknown to Science
Deep beneath the sparkling surface of the Pacific Ocean, in the vast expanse between Mexico and Hawaii, lies an area known as the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ). At the floor of this marine region, between 12,000 and 5,486.40 m below sea level, is a wide and mucky abyssal plain dotted by seamounts, that covers about 1.7…
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Life Is Finding a Way on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch
Unexpected marine animals are thriving on the massive amounts of plastic waste that has accumulated at sea. In a new study published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution, researchers describe how creatures that are normally found along coastlines, not the open ocean, have made their homes on floating trash in the Pacific Ocean.
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How to Watch NOAA’s ‘Voyage to the Ridge’ Deep Sea Expeditions in Real Time
An expedition to map and survey a little-understood region of the Atlantic Ocean is underway this week. Researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and partner groups are sending a two-part, remotely operated vehicle (ROV) on a series of deep ocean dives as part of a mission called “Voyage to the Ridge 2022.”