Oceanography Archives

ROV image of a partially collapsed gas hydrate mound in the Molloy Deep (Freya mounds). The mound hosts frenulate worms and crustaceans. Photo: UiT / Ocean Census / REV Ocean

Analog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Microbiology & Virology, Press Release, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Sample Return, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

The Deepest Gas Hydrate Cold Seep Ever Discovered In The Arctic

by Keith CowingDecember 31, 2025December 31, 2025

A multinational scientific team led by UiT has uncovered the deepest known gas hydrate cold seep on the planet. The discovery was made during the Ocean Census Arctic Deep – EXTREME24 expedition […]

Pan-evolutionary analysis for identifying conserved gene clusters and karyotypes. (A–C) Microsynteny analysis among deep ocean organisms. Circos plot for distribution and visualization of microsynteny blocks between two deep ocean organisms. - HKUST

Analog Studies, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Microbiology & Virology, Nomenclature, Systematics, Natural History, Press Release, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Sample Return, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

HKUST Launches World’s First Deep-sea Multi-omics Resource Platform Empowering Global Research Into Biological Adaptation In Extreme Environments

by Keith CowingDecember 30, 2025December 30, 2025

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), in collaboration with the Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou), has launched the world’s first Deep Ocean Omics (DOO) […]

Polymetallic nodules, also called manganese nodules, on the floor of the Pacific Ocean; surprising new research suggests deep sea rocks are capable of producing oxygen without help from plants or the sun. Photo via Wikimedia Commons/Geomar Bilddatenbank/ROV KIEL 6000, GEOMAR

Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Status Report

Extraordinary Claims Require Extraordinary Evidence: Evaluating Nodule-associated Dark Oxygen Production (opinion)

by Keith CowingDecember 19, 2025December 19, 2025

Editor’s note: this is a response to Oxygen Produced In The Deep Sea Raises Questions About Extraterrestrial Life, Boston University 27 August 2024

Swimming sperm whales. Credit Patrick Dykstra

AI - Data - Apps - Cybernetics, Intelligence & Language, Press Release, SETI & Technosignatures, Societal Issues, Tricorders & Sensors, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

SETI/CETI Tricorder Tech: Tapping Into Whale Talk

by Keith CowingDecember 16, 2025December 16, 2025

Say you want to listen in on a group of super-intelligent aliens whose language you don’t understand, and whose spaceship only flies by Earth once an hour. It’s not unlike […]

Prior to ca. 2.32 Ga, during deposition of the upper Rooihoogte and lower Timeball Hill formations, atmospheric pO2

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Gaia Mission, Habitable Zones, Status Report

Onset Of Persistent Surface Ocean Oxygenation During The Great Oxidation Event

by Keith CowingDecember 15, 2025December 15, 2025

Free oxygen (O2) first began accumulating in Earth’s atmosphere shortly after the Archean-Proterozoic transition during the ‘Great Oxidation Event’ (GOE).

South Africa’s exceptionally preserved ancient rocks hold key evidence for the rise ofatmospheric oxygen. Within them, researchers see the disappearance of sulfur mass-independent fractionation, evidence for a GOE. Credit Photo by Daniel Hentz, ©Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Habitable Zones, Press Release

A New Study Reveals How Oxygen First Reached Earth’s Oceans

by Keith CowingDecember 10, 2025December 10, 2025

For roughly two billion years of Earth’s early history, the atmosphere contained no oxygen, the essential ingredient required for complex life. Oxygen began building up during the period known as […]

a cryoEM volume revealing a two-start (C2) helical filament with a pitch p and diameter of 94.6 Å and 260 Å, and a rise and twist of 3.18 Å and 12.1°, respectively; b local interaction network between neighboring cannula protofilaments in which subunits interlock through donor strand complementation along the axial (e.g., i → j → k) direction and partake in further intermolecular contacts mediated by calcium coordination along the axial and radial (e.g., j-1→j → j + 1) direction; c stick representation of three types of calcium pockets: (i) axial stacking of subunits via type I and II calcium binding centers, (ii) radial contacts are mediated via type III Ca2+ binding sites; d raw cryoEM image of a cannulae filaments loaded with a helically winding thinner filament (2 nm; cargo). White arrows denote winding cargo and dangling cargo associated with the cannulae filaments; e surface electrostatics showing a predominantly negatively charged surface and a positively charged lumen for the cannula model. The representative image in this figure (d) is derived from a total of 2365 cryo-EM movies from two technical replicates.-- Nature Communications

Astropharmacy / Biotechnology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Commercial & Private Sector, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Microbiology & Virology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Sample Return, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Extreme Engineering – Unlocking Design Secrets of Deep-sea Microbes

by Keith CowingDecember 7, 2025

The microbe Pyrodictium abyssi is an archaeon — a member of what’s known as the third domain of life — and an extremophile. It lives in deep-sea thermal vents, at […]

In the location map, dashed lines represent the magnetic anomaly lineations. Note the scale change in the N/K and N/Na ratios marked by the dashed lines. -- Nature

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Sample Return, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

New Research Reveals Chemical Process That May Have Sparked Life On Earth

by Keith CowingDecember 5, 2025December 5, 2025

University of Alberta geochemists have discovered a missing piece to one of the great mysteries of science — the origin of life on Earth.

The Investigating Ocean Worlds (InvOW) project will measure organic compounds across three domains: the subseafloor (A), the ocean (B), and the cryosphere (C), with a goal of helping NASA apply what has been learned about the Earth’s oceans to other places in the Solar System. © Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Enceladus, Europa, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Selected By NASA To Investigate Ocean Worlds And Their Organic Carbon Cycles

by Keith CowingDecember 4, 2025December 4, 2025

Ocean worlds such as Jupiter’s icy moon Europa and Saturn’s counterpart, Enceladus, could be among the most favorable places to discover life beyond Earth—and perhaps even a second, independent origin […]

Sampling fluids of 180 degree Celsius at the White Sealhound structure. Photo: MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen

Away Teams & Field Reports, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Microbiology & Virology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Sample Return, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Newly Discovered Hydrothermal Fields Off The Island Of Milos

by Keith CowingDecember 2, 2025December 2, 2025

The study identifies three major vent areas — Aghia Kiriaki, Paleochori–Thiorychia, and Vani — all located along active fault zones that run across the Milos shelf.

Oceanography

The Deepest Gas Hydrate Cold Seep Ever Discovered In The Arctic

HKUST Launches World’s First Deep-sea Multi-omics Resource Platform Empowering Global Research Into Biological Adaptation In Extreme Environments

Extraordinary Claims Require Extraordinary Evidence: Evaluating Nodule-associated Dark Oxygen Production (opinion)

SETI/CETI Tricorder Tech: Tapping Into Whale Talk

Onset Of Persistent Surface Ocean Oxygenation During The Great Oxidation Event

A New Study Reveals How Oxygen First Reached Earth’s Oceans

Extreme Engineering – Unlocking Design Secrets of Deep-sea Microbes

New Research Reveals Chemical Process That May Have Sparked Life On Earth

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Selected By NASA To Investigate Ocean Worlds And Their Organic Carbon Cycles

Newly Discovered Hydrothermal Fields Off The Island Of Milos

Astrobiologist Dale Andersen’s Antarctic Field Report: 20 Oct 2026: Wheels Down In Cape Town

Astrobiology Primer

The Evolution Of Oxygen, Temperature, And Marine Aerobic Habitat For Animals Over The Last Billion Years Of Earth History

Icy Ocean Planet Recon: Saildrone Research Fleet To Circle Antarctica For 5 Years

Water As We’ve Never Known It: Testing Water Beyond Earth-like Conditions