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Ocean sciences articles from across Nature Portfolio
Ocean sciences span the physics, chemistry, and biology of marine systems. The field encompasses ocean circulation, energy dissipation, marine biology, ecology, biogeochemical cycles, water mass formation and movement, ocean temperature and salinity, and marine carbon and carbonate chemistry.
Iron levels unexpectedly limit bacterial growth in the ocean’s twilight zone
Microbial growth at depths of 200–500 metres has been found to be limited by iron, a key micronutrient. To meet their iron requirement, bacteria inhabiting the twilight zone manufacture siderophores — molecules that scavenge trace amounts of iron from seawater.
Mapping oceanic carbon potential
Ocean alkalinity enhancement is a commonly touted method for marine carbon dioxide removal but many questions remain, including its capacity for large-scale carbon removal. Computer models have now been used to map the timescales and efficiency of carbon removal at global scale, revealing important regional differences.
- Darren Pilcher
Oceanic western boundary currents modulate local climate variability
This study reveals that variability in sea surface temperature in key oceanic surface currents has a distinct and robust influence on the local atmospheric circulation, affecting precipitation and vertical motion (the rising and sinking of air). The findings enhance our understanding of how ocean dynamics shape climate variability outside the tropics.
Related Subjects
- Marine biology
- Marine chemistry
- Physical oceanography
Latest Research and Reviews
Weakened large-scale surface heat flux feedback at midlatitudes under global warming
This study uses state-of-the-art climate model simulations and shows that the surface heat flux feedback to large-scale sea surface temperature anomalies will weaken at the midlatitudes under global warming due to a more stable marine atmospheric boundary layer.
- Zhiqiao Wang
- Fengfei Song
Drivers of the global phosphorus cycle over geological time
The phosphorus cycle limits primary production on geological timescales, influencing climate. This Review explores the environmental drivers impacting the rates of continental weathering and phosphorus burial in marine sediments, which are the primary sources and sinks in the global phosphorus cycle.
- Mingyu Zhao
- Benjamin J. W. Mills
- Zhengtang Guo
Ecosystem transplant from a healthy reef boosts coral health at a degraded reef
Invertebrate and microbe communities support reef ecosystems and coral health. Here, the authors characterize these communities from degraded and healthy reefs, showing that transplanting these healthy communities improved coral health at degraded reefs.
- Natalie Levy
- Joseane A. Marques
Weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation driven by subarctic freshening since the mid-twentieth century
Fresh meltwater entering the Labrador and Irminger seas has resulted in a slowing of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation since the 1950s, according to a combination of modelling approaches.
- Gabriel M. Pontes
- Laurie Menviel
Chlorine isotopes constrain a major drawdown of the Mediterranean Sea during the Messinian Salinity Crisis
Chlorine isotopes reveal a two-phase salt deposition in the Mediterranean during the Messinian Salinity Crisis: an initial, brine-filled phase, followed by a rapid evaporative drawdown, causing a major ( ~ 2 km) sea-level drop.
- Z. Gvirtzman
Prediction of strata settlement in undersea metal mining based on deep forest
- Zhixiang Liu
News and Comment
‘heroic interference’ should not be the endgame of coral-reef restoration.
- Mikhail Matz
Solid phase extraction to measure B-vitamins in aquatic systems
Meriel Bittner explains how solid phase extraction can be used to concentrate B-vitamins for quantification in aquatic systems.
- Meriel J. Bittner
Multiscale incubations to investigate microalgal dynamics
Simon Jaffrès explains how multiscale incubations help reveal marine microalgal responses to environmental change
- Simon P. H. Jaffrès
Mind the fragmentation gap
The Global Plastics Treaty presents an opportunity to “end plastic pollution”. Legacy plastics will continue to fragment to secondary microplastics for decades, without additional mitigation measures. We identify this flux as a “fragmentation gap”, currently overlooked in global policy targets.
- Karin Kvale
- Zhenna Azimrayat Andrews
- Matthias Egger
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