Tag: ocean

ScienceDaily (July 5, 2010) Oil spills can increase levels of toxic arsenic in the ocean, creating an additional long-term threat to the marine ecosystem, according to research published July 2 in the journal Water Research.

Arsenic is a poisonous chemical element found in minerals and it is present in oil. High levels of arsenic in seawater can enable the toxin to enter the food chain. It can disrupt the photosynthesis process in marine plants and increase the chances of genetic alterations that can cause birth defects and behavioural changes in aquatic life. It can also kill animals such as birds that feed on sea creatures affected by arsenic.

ScienceDaily (Feb. 14, 2010) Evidence from the Challenger Deep -- the deepest surveyed point in the world's oceans -- suggests that tiny single-celled creatures called foraminifera living at extreme depths of more than ten kilometres build their homes using material that sinks down from near the ocean surface.

The Challenger Deep is located in the Mariana Trench in the western Pacific Ocean. It lies in the hadal zone beyond the abyssal zone, and plunges down to a water depth of around 11 kilometres.

Warmed, overfished and polluted, the small Mediterranean Sea is giving scientists a look at what the future may hold for the rest of Earths oceans and its not pretty.

Beneath its surface, a transformation is taking place. Food webs are shrinking, with rich ecosystems that supported valuable commercial fisheries giving way to barrens dominated by jellyfish and tiny invertebrates. Mass die-offs and disease are now common.

OSLO (Reuters) - The permanent darkness of the ocean depths is home to a far greater range of animals, from luminous jellyfish to tubeworms that live off oil seeping from the seabed, than previously thought, scientists said on Sunday.

A total of 17,650 species of animals, also including shrimps, corals, starfish or crabs, have been identified in the frigid, sunless waters down to about 5 km (3 miles) deep.