Latest news with #seafloor
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
Massive Monolith Found in the Waters of Papahānaumokuākea
On April 22, which is Earth Day, researchers studying the sea floor in unexplored deepwater regions of Papahānaumokuākea found something incredible: an enormous monolith nearly 50-feet high. The Papahānaumokuākea region is an amazing place. Located off the northwestern Hawaiian Islands, the vast archipelago has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It's one of the largest marine conservation areas in the world, and it is an absolute treasure trove of wonderfully interesting things. The researchers were part of a mission called 'Beyond the Blue: Papahānaumokuākea ROV and Mapping,' which aims to 'map, explore, and characterize ecologically and economically important unexplored deepwater regions of Papahānaumokuākea.' The scientists, for most of the dive, found what they were expecting. As they were thinking about calling it for the day, a volcanic dike loomed out of the darkness. 'This community was relatively consistent throughout, until the end of the dive when we found a large solitary dike feature that was nearly 15 meters (49 feet) of shear vertical wall running for over 11 meters (36 feet) in length but only four meters (13 feet) wide,' the dive log reads. 'The up-current side of this wall hosted numerous large Hemicorallium colonies with several large Primnoids corals interspersed.' Volcanic dikes are formed when magma finds its way into a crack in older rock. This particular one was nearly 7,000 feet down, and was covered in all manner of life. 'The waters in the Pacific Islands region span a diverse range of ecosystems and dynamic geological environments,' NOAA researchers wrote. 'They contain some of the last relatively pristine marine ecosystems on the planet and harbor numerous protected species, wondrous geological formations, and undiscovered shipwrecks. Papahānaumokuākea is a place of extraordinary beauty, known by a single name that commemorates the union of two Hawaiian ancestors – Papahānaumoku and Wākea – who gave rise to the Hawaiian Archipelago, the taro plant, and the Hawaiian people.' Solve the daily Crossword
CTV News
5 days ago
- Science
- CTV News
Scientists go deep into the Saguenay fjord to study seafloor mud
Scientists from U.K. and Université Laval gathered in Quebec City to study how and when the muddy seafloor stores carbon. Sarah Plowman reports. A few hours northeast of Quebec City is the Saguenay fjord, a flooded glacial valley that snakes inland from the St. Lawrence River. It's here where scientists from the U.K. and the Université Laval have come to study what lies beneath — the mud at the bottom of the seafloor. Understanding it better could be key to understanding how to mitigate climate change. Ceri Lewis, a professor of marine biology at the University of Exeter and a researcher with the Convex Seascape Survey, explains how when people think about the big parts of the earth system that control carbon in the atmosphere and oceans, they often think of terrestrial ecosystems like rainforests, coral reefs or seagrasses. 'We know that sediment, the mud at the bottom of the seafloor, is also really, really rich in organic carbon, and it's storing this carbon. But we know much less about it because it's so far down, it's so deep, and it's really hard to study,' said Lewis. As the sun rises over the fjord, the researchers climb aboard a boat carrying containers they'll use to hold their samples. Fjord As the sun rises over the fjord, the researchers climb aboard a boat carrying containers they'll use to hold their samples. A sediment grabber is attached to the boat's rear. They'll drop it into the water to the bottom of several basins within the fjord, sometimes going up to 200 metres deep to scoop up samples. Freshwater flows from Lac Saint-Jean and saltwater flows from the St. Lawrence River. The fjord's gradients offer a variety of species. The project is part of the Convex Seascape Survey, a five-year global project looking at how, where and when the ocean's continental shelves and muddy seafloor stores carbon. This study will narrow in on the role the tiny animals that live in seafloor mud play in the process. 'What we're particularly interested in looking at here is the role of the biodiversity. So, there's a number of different types of animals that live in the mud. How they affect these processes. Is it just one or two key species that are kind of doing all of the work, or is it about that community composition that really matters?' Lewis said the Saguenay fjord is a fantastic place to ask this question because of its biodiversity. 'It's full of some really interesting big worms and all sorts of interesting animals in the mud. And so, we're learning a lot about how these different types of marine animals affect these processes. And they're not all doing the same jobs, but we don't know which ones really matter yet,' she said. 'That's what we're trying to find out.' It's not just mud: scientists Martin Solan, a professor of Marine Ecology at the University of Southampton and researcher with the Convex Seascape Survey, notes that when people see seafloor mud, they may just see mud. But within it, there's a diversity of life: worms, sea cucumbers, brittle stars. Solan says within an area the size of a typical coffee table, there may be somewhere between 50 to 150 species, depending on where you are in the world. 'They're extremely diverse systems. They're extremely active. They're very busy. And if you peel apart the mud, as we've done today, you see a network of burrows, of chambers, or mounds and pits,' said Solan, adding they're having effect on things like how elements of living matter are circulated through biogeochemical cycles. Similar to how earthworks rework the soil in a garden to make it healthier, the animals on the seafloor do the same thing. Fjord Within an area the size of a typical coffee table, there may be somewhere between 50 to 150 specie Researchers want to know how that process influences where the carbon goes. Once samples are collected, they're brought to a makeshift lab in Chicoutimi for experimenting. Researchers will put the samples in tanks and then add little fluorescent tracers in sands and add algae, carbon they've labelled and can track, to watch the animals move and measure where that carbon goes in the sediment. 'Is it being locked away? Which is what we would want for climate solutions. Or is it just being used up by the animals in that ecosystem?' said Lewis. 'And by labelling the carbon in the experience, we'll see exactly where it all goes.' Lewis said knowledge gained through their research can help make sure the models used to calculate carbon on a global scale and are used for climate change predictions are accurate. 'Because, at the moment, they don't really look at these processes in the mud, so we are hoping to improve some of that accuracy of those models. But we also want to be able to actually manage the ocean floor and protect these carbon stores that are doing important jobs. And finding protected parts of the ocean for mud is really, really hard at the moment,' she said.
CTV News
5 days ago
- Science
- CTV News
CTV News: Scientists gather in Quebec to study carbon storage beneath muddy seafloor
Scientists from U.K. and Université Laval gathered in Quebec City to study how and when the muddy seafloor stores carbon. Sarah Plowman reports.
Washington Post
16-07-2025
- Science
- Washington Post
Some Australian dolphins use sponges to hunt fish, but it's harder than it looks
WASHINGTON — Some dolphins in Australia have a special technique to flush fish from the seafloor. They hunt with a sponge on their beak, like a clown nose. Using the sponge to protect from sharp rocks, the dolphins swim with their beaks covered, shoveling through rubble at the bottom of sandy channels and stirring up barred sandperch for a meal.
Yahoo
17-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Mysterious Two-Mile Wide Dome Slithers in Pacific Ocean
Something strange is lurking on the seafloor. Off the coast of Washington, deep in the Pacific Ocean, a dome-shaped object has been spotted on Google Earth. The unknown entity is an estimated two miles wide, appears circular in shape, and it's moving… leaving behind a snake-like trail. Wanna see for yourself? Check it out at 49°50'43.0'N 140°13'21.0'W. Conspiracy theorists and obsessively online individuals have jumped on the case, exposing the mystery, speculating wildly as to what it might be (aliens! Godzilla!), and following its movements. One commenter, however, took a different track than the tin foil hat community. Instead, they offered a more plausible explanation: 'You're not looking at a crawling dome. You're looking at a low-res sonar stitch glitch on Google Earth's bathymetric layer. What you're calling a 2-mile sea creature is just cartographic noise from overlapping survey lines and interpolation gaps.'This is what happens when someone opens Google Earth, sees a shadow, and decides they're Deep Sea Dora the Explorer with zero understanding of how seafloor mapping works. These aren't alien trails. They're digital potholes from outdated sonar passes.'Recently, a similar situation involving a strange object observed on Google Earth underwater caused a stir. That time, the perceived anomaly was off the coast of Malibu. It showed Sycamore Knoll, a submerged topographical feature, which conspiracy theorists ventured that it could be a covert military base or, of course, aliens. Then, adding to the mystery, it disappeared from Google. As for this new anomaly stoking speculation, there's been no certifiable explanation yet. Is it a glitch in Google Earth's mapping technology? Or something more sci-fi? Commence speculation. Mysterious Two-Mile Wide Dome Slithers in Pacific Ocean first appeared on Surfer on Jun 16, 2025
