For several years China mapped ocean floors as it prepares for submarine warfare with US

Hopefully, civilian use of these maps will eventually be possible!

Officially, China used equipment from a New Zealand company for this purpose.

Caveat: I did not read the entire, very long article below.

"... In tracing this effort, Reuters examined Chinese government and university records, including journal articles and scientific studies, and analyzed more than five years of movement by 42 research vessels active in the Pacific, Indian or Arctic oceans using a ship-tracking platform built by New Zealand company Starboard Maritime Intelligence.

While the research has civilian purposes – some of the surveying covers fishing grounds or areas where China has mineral prospecting contracts – it also serves a military one, according to nine naval-warfare experts who reviewed Reuters’ findings. ..."

China maps ocean floor as it prepares for submarine warfare with US

IPCC's Earth Energy Imbalance Assessment is Based on Physically Invalid Argo-Float-Based Estimates of Global Ocean Heat Content

Dedicated to all climate skeptics! More evidence of sloppy science and alarmism and hysteria!

Global warming is a hoax and climate change is a religion and superstition!

Climate on earth is a very complex phenomena that humans still understand very poorly! We still can not even forecast weather accurately for over 48 hours!

"An international team of scientists has published groundbreaking research revealing that the primary measurement used to support claims of planetary “warming” is fundamentally flawed and scientifically invalid. The paper, published in Science of Climate Change, demonstrates that ocean heat content (OHC) estimates, which underpin the IPCC climate assessments, are based on physically meaningless calculations that violate basic 150-year-old principles of thermodynamics and fail to meet the standards of the scientific method.

The research team ... conducted the first comprehensive analysis of how global OHC is actually measured and calculated. Their findings reveal that the widely cited figure in IPCC AR6 showing Earth accumulating energy at a rate of 0.7 ± 0.2 watts per square meter has an actual uncertainty roughly ten times larger than what the IPCC claims, making the central value “statistically indistinguishable from zero.” “The public has been told that the ocean is ‘warming’ and absorbing over 90% of ‘excess’ planetary heat,” explained Cohler. “But when we examined how these numbers are actually calculated, we found they represent computational artifacts rather than measurements of real physical energy rendering the entire process a category error.” The analysis focuses on data from the international Argo float program, a network of approximately 4,000 autonomous floats that drift through the ocean measuring temperature and other data. These measurements form the backbone of modern climate assessments, including those by the IPCC.

Even leaving aside the fundamental category error, for the sake of argument, this research nonetheless reveals multiple fundamental problems with how this data is processed.

The floats measure temperature at specific locations and depths during their 10-day cycles, but their exact underwater positions remain unknown because they lack navigation equipment while submerged. The system assigns all measured values to the location where the float surfaces once every 10 days, potentially mislocating data by tens of kilometers. The floats are typically spaced 200–500 km (120–300 miles) apart. These sparse measurements are spread across vast ocean surface area and volume using mathematical interpolation, essentially filling in unmeasured areas using assumptions rather than observations.

Most critically, the calculations violate a scientific principle established more than a century ago: temperature cannot be meaningfully averaged across systems that are not in equilibrium. “Temperature describes the state of a specific location at a specific moment,” noted co-author Dr. David R. Legates. “Averaging temperatures from different water masses separated by hundreds of kilometers and weeks of time produces a number, but that number doesn’t correspond to any physical reality.” ..."

From the abstract:

"Global ocean heat content (OHC) anomalies and derived Earth Energy Imbalance (EEI) estimates, central to contemporary climate assessments including IPCC AR6, are constructed through processes that violate the scientific method. These metrics rely almost exclusively on temperature

data from the Argo profiling float array. Their validity and reliability hinge on several critical but herein refuted assumptions about measurement representativeness, interpolation/extrapolation methods, the physical meaning of anomalies, and integration conventions. Core Argo and Biogeochemical Argo floats deliver discrete, point measurements of intensive properties like temperature along irregular, untracked three-dimensional trajectories during ascent from 2000 m to the surface. This samples only the upper ocean, excluding roughly 50% of total ocean volume and thermal energy. Horizontal positions are recorded only at surface intervals ~10 days apart, leaving subsurface locations entirely unknown. All data from each ascent are arbitrarily assigned to the

surfacing position, introducing unknown horizontal offsets (up to 50 km) and temporal offsets (up to 10 hours) for the deepest measurements. Anomalies are computed by subtracting values from statistically derived reference climatologies based on sparse historical data over arbitrary

baseline periods. Measured temperatures are then interpolated onto global 3D grids using prescribed covariance functions. These anomalies represent numerical differences without physical meaning as temperature deviations, because temperature, an intensive property, is not additive across non-equilibrium spatial or temporal domains (Essex et al., 2007; Essex & Andresen, 2018). The integrated OHC scalar depends heavily on arbitrary averaging and interpolation rules, producing computational artifacts rather than measures of actual ocean energy uptake or planetary radiative imbalance. Derived EEI values, such as the 0.7 ± 0.2 W m⁻² in IPCC AR6 Figure 7.2, inherit these biases and stem from circular methodology: CERES satellite top-of-atmosphere radiative flux measurements (absolute uncertainties ± 3–5 W m⁻² or higher) are adjusted via least-

squares to match Argo OHC-derived estimates, rather than offering independent validation. We rigorously quantify major uncertainty sources, including unresolved mesoscale variability (± 0.9 W m⁻²), deep ocean ignorance bounds (± 0.35 W m⁻² from sparse Deep Argo), polar under-

sampling (± 0.1 W m⁻²), Nyquist-Shannon aliasing in sparse deep ocean and polar sampling, sealevel budget closure discrepancy between satellite altimetry/gravimetry and Argo OHC (±0.33 Wm-2), arbitrary baseline choices (± 0.2 W m⁻²), Eulerian-Lagrangian discrepancies (± 0.25 W m⁻²),

and untracked trajectories and positional assignments. Although the concepts of OHC and EEI are thermodynamically well-defined physical quantities, the numerical values produced by current Argo-based methodologies are physically meaningless computational constructs that do not validly represent those quantities. We conclude that EEI uncertainties reach >± 1 W m⁻² at 95% confidence, roughly an order of magnitude larger than the uncertainty that IPCC AR6 reports, rendering current OHC change and EEI estimates statistically indistinguishable from zero."

Press Release: IPCC's Earth Energy Imbalance Assessment is Based on Physically Invalid Argo-Float-Based Estimates of Global Ocean Heat Content

IPCC’s Earth Energy Imbalance Assessment is Based on Physically Invalid Argo-Float-Based Estimates of Global Ocean Heat Content

Traces of ancient seafloor cataclysms turn up in the Himalayas

Amazing stuff!

"High on the Tibetan Plateau, geologists have identified slivers of twisted and folded lava they say are the relics of immense volcanic eruptions more than 200 million years ago, on the floor of a vanished sea. The discovery provides a culprit for previously unexplained marine extinctions.

Such supereruptions, which can spew millions of cubic kilometers of magma and last for millions of years, have been linked with some of the largest mass extinctions in Earth’s history. Called large igneous provinces, they are easy to recognize when they occur on land because the lava plateaus they leave behind stick around for eons. However, because oceanic crust gets recycled relatively quickly back into the mantle, the evidence for marine supereruptions has mostly vanished. By identifying the landlocked traces of two vanished supereruptions, the new study ... fills out the history of these cataclysms—and adds to the evidence that oceanic supereruptions have shaped the history of life more than once thought. ..."

From the abstract:

"The trigger for frequent extinctions during the Phanerozoic remains a persistent and unresolved frontier issue in Earth sciences.

We present a detailed analysis of oceanic island, seamount, and plateau remnants in the Tibetan Plateau that trace the evolution of the Meso- and Neo-Tethys oceans, incorporating new and published data.

During the Triassic, three major episodes of marine large igneous provinces (LIPs) formed at 250−248 Ma, 233−231 Ma, and 210−208 Ma. By integrating geological records of these LIP episodes with Triassic geological data sets, we demonstrate a correlation between marine LIPs and at least four extinctions in marine biota, driven by the resultant anoxic-euxinic events.

Consequently, marine LIPs emerge as a primary driver of recurrent mass extinctions. Numerous previously unexplained extinctions throughout Earth’s history may potentially result from currently unidentified components of marine LIPs occurring as fragments within orogenic belts."

Traces of ancient seafloor cataclysms turn up in the Himalayas | Science | AAAS "Vast undersea eruptions may be undercounted source of extinctions through Earth’s history"

Key Drivers of Recurrent Extinction in the Triassic "New study in Geology links massive undersea volcanism to repeated marine extinctions"

Marine large igneous provinces: Key drivers of Triassic recurrent extinction (open access)

How a single 2003 major marine heatwave triggered lasting upheaval in the North Atlantic

Amazing stuff!

More examples how little we still know about our oceans, but many charlatans (incl. scientists) claim anthropogenic global warming!

It seems marine heatwaves were unknown until the 1980s (see e.g. Wikipedia).

According to Google: "The earliest widespread marine heatwave events identifiable in compiled global records date back to the 1920s, with major studies creating datasets that track these events from around 1925 onwards, revealing significant increases in frequency and duration over the 20th century, though specific large events like "The Blob" (2014-2016) are more famous." Google did not say when these data was compiled, I suspect after 1980.

"... A team of researchers has discovered that a single, large-scale heat wave has affected ecosystems and trophic interactions in the subpolar North Atlantic, and the effects are still felt today. ..."

"... From unicellular algae to whales – all organisms were affected by the unexpected heat. Capelin, a cold-water fish species started to suffer, while warmer water loving species, such as cod and haddock expanded their distribution northwards. Capelin is the most important subpolar forage fish species in the North Atlantic and moved its spawning areas northwards from south-western Iceland. This had far-reaching consequences: Eggs and larvae started drifting to unfavorable habitats close to the coast off East Greenland, where they have a lower probability of survival because they are not adapted to the local conditions. Species, such as humpback whales, benefit from these changes, follows capelin and is much more regularly seen in South-East Greenland than it historically used to be. ..."

From the abstract:

"Marine heat waves (MHWs) are increasing in frequency and intensity, but wider effects are unexamined in the North Atlantic, and there are uncertainties regarding the spatial scale, magnitude, and persistence of MHWs’ impacts on ecosystems.

We show that a sudden and strong increase in the frequency of MHWs in and after 2003 was linked to widespread and abrupt ecological changes. This upheaval spanned multiple trophic levels, from unicellular protists to whales.

Every examined region showed a reorganization from species adapted to colder, ice-prone environments to those favoring warmer waters and the event’s impacts altered socioecological dynamics.

This review provides evidence for large-scale connectivity across ocean basins. However, it reveals that the magnitude of ecological impacts seems to vary among events highlighting key knowledge gaps for predicting ecosystem responses to MHWs.

Understanding the importance of the subpolar gyre and air-sea heat exchange will be crucial for forecasting MHWs and their cascading effects."

How a single 2003 heat wave triggered lasting upheaval in the North Atlantic

How a heat wave in 2003 has changed the North Atlantic until today (original news release) "Extreme events change the ecology of oceans abruptly: For example, a marine heat wave in 2003 had such strong effects on species composition and trophic interactions of the subpolar North Atlantic that these impacts last until today. Researchers led by the Thünen Institute of Sea Fisheries in Bremerhaven just described this. The study has recently been published in Science Advances."

Major heat wave in the North Atlantic had widespread and lasting impacts on marine life (open access)

Fig. 1. Major currents in the North Atlantic. Case study areas highlighted in green.

Fig. 3. Major heat wave in the North Atlantic had widespread and lasting impacts on marine life. [How many MHWs were missed? What about MHWs in other oceans?]

A reconstruction of Global mean sea level (GMSL) changes over the past 4.5 million years

Amazing stuff! Climate changes all the time for millions of years!

We still know very little about our oceans!

"Global mean sea level (GMSL) and climate are inextricably intertwined [???], a point of great relevance in our warming world. Clark et al. present a reconstruction of GMSL changes over the past 4.5 million years that accounts for temperature-driven changes in the oxygen isotopic compositions of the main ice sheets, as well as changes in ice volume and ocean temperature. This approach provides important insights about ice sheet volumes and variability and the forces that drive conditions over time."

From the abstract:

"Structured Abstract

INTRODUCTION

The oxygen isotopic composition (18O/16O) of benthic foraminifera shells (expressed as δ18Ob) has long provided a simple but powerful record of the long-term evolution of combined changes in deep ocean temperature (expressed as δ18OT) and global mean sea level, with the latter recorded by changes in the δ18O of seawater (expressed as δ18Osw) due to ice sheet growth and decay. More recently, a widely used strategy to isolate δ18Osw by regressing the δ18Ob record against times of known sea level reinforced the longstanding inference from the δ18Ob record that sea level change during the past 4.5 million years (Myr) experienced two transitions towards lower sea level lowstands.

The first transition [3 to 2.5 million years ago (Ma)] represents increasingly larger Northern Hemisphere (NH) ice sheets that fluctuated with a 41-thousand-year (kyr) periodicity.

The second middle Pleistocene transition (MPT) (1.2 to 0.62 Ma) is characterized by even larger fluctuations of NH ice sheets, which changed from a 41-kyr periodicity to a dominant 100-kyr periodicity.

In both cases, the transitions occurred in the absence of any changes in the orbital forcing by the Sun, suggesting that the cause(s) of these transitions was internal to the climate system.

RATIONALE

Despite general agreement that each of the two transitions represented an increase in the size of NH ice sheet fluctuations, the regression-based method to reconstruct sea level remains uncertain because by default, it reproduces the δ18Ob variability. Indeed, multiple lines of evidence—including from terrestrial, marine, and geophysical records that constrain ice sheet extent, as well as from δ18Osw which is derived by subtracting known δ18OT from the δ18Ob record—suggest that fluctuations of large NH ice sheets have occurred throughout the past 2.5 Myr, with the MPT thus recording a change in periodicity but not in ice sheet size. If correct, this scenario poses new challenges in understanding the 41-kyr periodicity of large ice sheets in a warmer world as well as the change in ice sheet variability during the MPT.

RESULTS

We converted a new δ18Osw record to sea level by applying a mass-balance approach that accounts for time-varying temperature and ice volume effects on the δ18O of ice sheets.

We find that the first transition in the δ18Ob record represents an increase in NH ice sheet fluctuations to a size that then reoccurred throughout the remaining 2.5 Myr whereas the second transition represents a decrease in mean ocean temperature accompanied by an increase in its variability.

Our climate model results show that the height of large pre-MPT ice sheets allowed them to be in surface mass balance under warmer-than-present global temperatures.

Growth and decay of these large ice sheets was paced by 41-kyr obliquity forcing, with deglaciation occurring once ice sheets exceeded a certain size and became unstable. We propose that changes in the Southern Ocean carbon cycle during the MPT modulated the response of global temperature and ice sheets to 41-kyr obliquity forcing, resulting in the emergence of the ~100-kyr signal.

CONCLUSION

Our work creates a new paradigm for the development of the Pleistocene ice ages, in particular the idea that large changes in sea level occurred throughout the Pleistocene rather than temperature varying with ice volume as the Earth cooled. In doing so, our findings modify as well as add several fundamental challenges to our understanding of ice sheet–climate interactions.

Underlying each of these challenges is the fact that the dominant orbital-scale sea level variability and its changes over the past 3 Myr are not the ones that would be predicted solely by the associated orbital forcing, suggesting internal feedbacks of the climate system that we propose are largely driven by changes in the Southern Ocean carbon cycle and the effects of these changes on CO2 and global temperature. High-resolution ice core CO2 records that extend beyond 0.8 Ma are needed to test our hypotheses."

In Science Journals | Science

Global mean sea level over the past 4.5 million years

Futuristic Ocean Habitat Aims to House Humans by 2030

Recommendable!

Ocean-surface warming has more than quadrupled since the late-1980s, study shows. Really!

Once more the false alarmism and hysteria about climate change!

How accurate are these measurements? Very doubtful given the expanse of the oceans. There were probably not sufficient orbiting satellites with such capabilities before 30-40 years ago.

And such tiny variations are perhaps natural and nothing to worry about! The article actually hints at that.

"The rate of ocean warming has more than quadrupled over the past four decades, a new study has shown. Ocean temperatures were rising at about 0.06 degrees Celsius per decade in the late 1980s, but are now increasing at 0.27 degrees Celsius per decade. ...

Global ocean temperatures hit record highs for 450 days straight in 2023 and early 2024. Some of this warmth came from El Niño, a natural warming event in the Pacific. ..."

And take the El Niño–Southern Oscillation as an example, it was not really understood until the 1980s. So what else do we still not understand very well about our oceans? I bet a lot!

Like to much else regarding the Global Warming hoax and the Climate Change religion this research is also heavily based on computer simulation. Garbage in, garbage out.

From the abstract:

"Global mean sea surface temperature (GMSST) is a fundamental diagnostic of ongoing climate change, yet there is incomplete understanding of multi-decadal changes in warming rate and year-to-year variability.

Exploiting satellite observations since 1985 and a statistical model incorporating drivers of variability and change, we identify an increasing rate of rise in GMSST. This accelerating ocean surface warming is physically linked to an upward trend in Earth's energy imbalance (EEI) [???]. We quantify that GMSST has increased by 0.54 +/-0.07 K for each GJ m–2 of accumulated energy, equivalent to 0.17 ± 0.02 K decade‒1 (W m‒2)‒1. Using the statistical model to isolate the trend from interannual variability, the underlying rate of change of GMSST rises in proportion with Earth's energy accumulation from 0.06 K decade–1 during 1985–89 to 0.27 K decade–1 for 2019–23.

While variability associated with the El Niño Southern Oscillation triggered the exceptionally high GMSSTs of 2023 and early 2024, 44% (90% confidence interval: 35%–52%) of the +0.22 K difference in GMSST between the peak of the 2023/24 event and that of the 2015/16 event is unexplained unless the acceleration of the GMSST trend is accounted for. Applying indicative future scenarios of EEI based on recent trends, GMSST increases are likely to be faster than would be expected from linear extrapolation of the past four decades. Our results provide observational evidence that the GMSST increase inferred over the past 40 years will likely be exceeded within the next 20 years. Policy makers and wider society should be aware that the rate of global warming over recent decades is a poor guide to the faster change that is likely over the decades to come, underscoring the urgency of deep reductions in fossil-fuel"

Ocean-surface warming has more than quadrupled since the late-1980s, study shows

Quantifying the acceleration of multidecadal global sea surface warming driven by Earth's energy imbalance (open access)

Antarctic ice shelf reveals never-before-seen seafloor ecosystem

Amazing stuff! Stunning!

Scientists Discover "Dark Oxygen" in the Deep Ocean with Palki Sharma

Amazing stuff! This could be huge if confirmed!

More carbon dioxide in the ocean could harm carbon-eating microbes and speed up climate change. Really!

Ocean acidification has been going on for over 200 years! Another attempt at hysteria and alarmism!

Notice, how they speculate from an increase of atmospheric CO2 may affect ocean acidity.

Notice too that acidity or acidification are a scary terms by itself that probably automatically raises fears in many people.

I bet like so much that is going on in our oceans is still poorly understood this applies also to ocean acidity and acidification.

Notice also the simplistic, superficially plausible underlying hypothesis: "Once dissolved in ocean water, CO2 undergoes a series of chemical reactions that release hydrogen ions and increase the water’s acidity". I bet it is a lot more complex than this!

"... However, too much CO2 threatens this natural system. Once dissolved in ocean water, CO2 undergoes a series of chemical reactions that release hydrogen ions and increase the water’s acidity. As human activity has raised atmospheric CO2 concentrations from 280 parts per million in the 1850s to 420 ppm today, ocean acidity has increased by roughly 30%. ..."

From the significance and abstract:

"Significance

Marine phytoplankton, which contribute ~45% of global net primary production, are projected to be affected by ongoing ocean acidification (OA). However, the response of phytoplankton to acidification is not well constrained in ultraoligotrophic tropical and subtropical oceans where small (<20 µm) phytoplankton dominate. By conducting onboard microcosm experiments, we found community-level primary production decreased consistently following CO2 enrichment in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre and northern South China Sea, while no significant changes were observed at the northernmost boundary of the subtropical gyre.

Eukaryotic phytoplankton but not cyanobacteria were key drivers of these responses which occur primarily under nitrogen limitation. These findings enhance our understanding of OA impacts on phytoplankton and marine productivity in a changing climate.

Abstract

Ocean acidification caused by increasing anthropogenic CO2 is expected to impact marine phytoplankton productivity, yet the extent and even direction of these changes are not well constrained. Here, we investigate the responses of phytoplankton community composition and productivity to acidification across the western North Pacific. Consistent reductions in primary production were observed under acidified conditions in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre and the northern South China Sea, whereas no significant changes were found at the northern boundary of the subtropical gyre.

While prokaryotic phytoplankton showed little or positive responses to high CO2, small (<20 µm) eukaryotic phytoplankton which are primarily limited by low ambient nitrogen drove the observed decrease in community primary production. Extrapolating these results to global tropical and subtropical oceans predicts a potential decrease of about 5 Pg C y−1 in primary production in low Chl-a oligotrophic regions, which are anticipated to experience both acidification and stratification in the future."

ScienceAdviser

Eukaryotic phytoplankton drive a decrease in primary production in response to elevated CO2 in the tropical and subtropical oceans (no public access)

The latest on the Mariana Trench

Amazing stuff! What lurks more than 10,000 meters below sea level?

"... Now, in a trio of papers published in Cell , scientists are shining a spotlight on the weird and wonderful organisms that inhabit this mysterious environment.

Between August and November 2021, scientists made dozens of trips to the Mariana Trench and surrounding regions in the Chinese submersible Fendouzhe, collecting samples of microbe-filled sediment, fish, and tiny shrimp-like crustaceans called amphipods. The new studies, all part of the Mariana Trench Environment and Ecology Research project, shed light on one of the planet’s most unexplored habitats: the hadal zone, which lies only within trenches and can reach down to 11,000 meters below sea level. Researchers identified over 7000 new microbial species in the Mariana Trench , 89% of which were previously unreported; they also discovered strategies that deep-sea fish and amphipods use to survive crushing pressure, darkness, and frigid temperatures.

When extremophile microbiologist Weishu Zhao traveled to the sea floor in Fendouzhe and switched on the sub’s lights, she found herself looking at “a profound and mysterious blue.” But the researchers also witnessed signs of human activity: plastic bags, beer bottles, soda cans, and even a nearly intact laundry basket—a sobering reminder that even Earth’s most remote places have been impacted by pollution."

"... For the new project, researchers used Fendouzhe ... describes as “an engineering marvel.” (The U.S. submersible Alvin, by comparison, can dive up to 6500 meters deep.) Capable of carrying three people to the very deepest parts of the ocean, the vessel is equipped with a pair of robotic arms and a sample basket, enabling it to collect hundreds of samples in a single dive. Between August and November 2021, Fendouzhe made dozens of dives in the Mariana Trench and neighboring regions, bringing back samples of microbe-filled sediment, fish, and tiny shrimplike crustaceans called amphipods. ...

Genetic analysis revealed that some have small, highly efficient genomes specialized for a few vital functions, whereas others have larger, more versatile genomes equipping them to deal with changing environmental conditions. Some species have genes that enable them to consume difficult-to-degrade substances such as carbon monoxide—an advantage in an environment with few other food sources. ...

In a second study, researchers report that amphipods may have adapted to this extreme environment by forming a symbiotic relationship with deep-sea bacteria, making them one of the hadal zone’s most abundant inhabitants, says study co-author and BGI researcher Shanshan Liu. Analysis of the crustaceans’ gut contents revealed high levels of Psychromonas bacteria, which the team suspects may help produce a compound called trimethylamine N-oxide. Found in many deep-sea organisms, the substance maintains the balance of fluids in the body and helps protect against the damaging effects of high pressure.

A third study found evidence that fish living at depths of 3 kilometers or more all share a genetic mutation that allows their cells to more efficiently transcribe genes into essential proteins, helping them quickly respond to stress brought on by pressure, cold, and darkness.

By studying the genomes of 11 species, the researchers were also able to determine when certain lineages first colonized the deep sea. 

Eels, for example, may have taken the plunge about 100 million years ago, avoiding the mass extinction event 65 million years ago that wiped out the dinosaurs and many marine organisms living in shallower water. 

Snailfish, meanwhile, might have ventured into deep-sea trenches about 20 million years ago, possibly coinciding with a period of tectonic upheaval. The deep sea may have served as an “ecological refuge” during environmental changes caused by dramatic temperature and oxygen fluctuations, says study co-author and BGI researcher Yue Song. ..."

From the highlights and abstract:

"Highlights

• Large-scale investigation of hadal sediments generated the MEER microbial dataset

• Reveals extraordinarily high proportion of unidentified microbial taxa in hadal zone

• Identify two hadal microbial adaptation strategies: streamlined and versatile

• Aromatic compound utilization and antioxidation emerge as key adaptations to hadal zone

Summary

Systematic exploration of the hadal zone, Earth’s deepest oceanic realm, has historically faced technical limitations. Here, we collected 1,648 sediment samples at 6–11 km in the Mariana Trench, Yap Trench, and Philippine Basin for the Mariana Trench Environment and Ecology Research (MEER) project. Metagenomic and 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing generated the 92-Tbp MEER dataset, comprising 7,564 species (89.4% unreported), indicating high taxonomic novelty. Unlike in reported environments, neutral drift played a minimal role, while homogeneous selection (HoS, 50.5%) and dispersal limitation (DL, 43.8%) emerged as dominant ecological drivers. HoS favored streamlined genomes with key functions for hadal adaptation, e.g., aromatic compound utilization (oligotrophic adaptation) and antioxidation (high-pressure adaptation).

Conversely, DL promoted versatile metabolism with larger genomes. These findings indicated that environmental factors drive the high taxonomic novelty in the hadal zone, advancing our understanding of the ecological mechanisms governing microbial ecosystems in such an extreme oceanic environment."

ScienceAdviser

The Mariana trench Environment and Ecology Research (MEER) project

Oceans’ deepest trenches are home to ‘incredible’ diversity

Microbial ecosystems and ecological driving forces in the deepest ocean sediments (open access)

Extremophile Zhao Weishu, a woman who likes great depth with her instrument

Graphical abstract

Figure 1 Sampling and extraordinary novelty of the Deepest Ocean microbiome revealed by the MEER dataset

An Ocean in Motion: NASA's Mesmerizing View of Earth's Underwater Highways

Amazing stuff!

The Ocean Teems With Networks of Interconnected Bacteria

Amazing stuff!

"... The microbes [Prochlorococcus bacteria] are likely the most abundant photosynthetic organism on the planet, and they create a significant portion — 10% to 20% — of the atmosphere’s oxygen. ...

“We realized the cyanobacteria were connected to each other,” ... There were links between Prochlorococcus cells, and also with another bacterium, called Synechococcus, which often lives nearby. In the images, silvery bridges linked three, four, and sometimes 10 or more cells. ...

After a battery of tests ... that these bridges are bacterial nanotubes. First observed in a common lab bacterium only 14 years ago, bacterial nanotubes are structures made of cell membrane that allow nutrients and resources to flow between two or more cells.

The structures have been a source of fascination and controversy over the last decade ...

Many bacteria have active social lives. Some make pili, hairlike growths of protein that link two cells to allow them to exchange DNA. Some form dense plaques together, known as biofilms. And many emit tiny bubbles known as vesicles that contain DNA, RNA or other chemicals, like messages in a bottle for whatever cell happens to intercept them. ..."

From the abstract:

"Microbial associations and interactions drive and regulate nutrient fluxes in the ocean. However, physical contact between cells of marine cyanobacteria has not been studied thus far. Here, we show a mechanism of direct interaction between the marine cyanobacteria Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus, the intercellular membrane nanotubes.

We present evidence of inter- and intra-genus exchange of cytoplasmic material between neighboring and distant cells of cyanobacteria mediated by nanotubes. We visualized and measured these structures in xenic and axenic cultures and in natural samples. We show that nanotubes are produced between living cells, suggesting that this is a relevant system of exchange material in vivo. The discovery of nanotubes acting as exchange bridges in the most abundant photosynthetic organisms in the ocean may have important implications for their interactions with other organisms and their population dynamics."

The Ocean Teems With Networks of Interconnected Bacteria | Quanta Magazine

Direct interaction between marine cyanobacteria mediated by nanotubes (open access)

Fig. 1. Nanotubes form between cyanobacterial cells.

Oceans Remove More atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Than Previously Believed

Good news!

We still know so little about climate, the sun, our oceans, cloud formation and so on!

Keep in mind: Global warming is a hoax and climate change is a religion! It is being used as a pretext by Big Government and the elite to interfere with our lives. It is among the greatest scams and scandals of at least the last 30 years!

Climate models are junk!

"Recent research published in the journal Nature finds oceans remove more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere than previously believed, necessitating a rethink of the Earth’s carbon budget and assumptions built into climate models about how the oceans and the atmosphere interact. ..."

From the abstract:

"The ocean annually absorbs about a quarter of all anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Global estimates of air–sea CO2 fluxes are typically based on bulk measurements of CO2 in air and seawater and neglect the effects of vertical temperature gradients near the ocean surface. Theoretical and laboratory observations indicate that these gradients alter air–sea CO2 fluxes, because the air–sea CO2 concentration difference is highly temperature sensitive. However, in situ field evidence supporting their effect is so far lacking. Here we present independent direct air–sea CO2 fluxes alongside indirect bulk fluxes collected along repeat transects in the Atlantic Ocean (50° N to 50° S) in 2018 and 2019. We find that accounting for vertical temperature gradients reduces the difference between direct and indirect fluxes from 0.19 mmol m−2 d−1 to 0.08 mmol m−2 d−1 (N = 148). This implies an increase in the Atlantic CO2 sink of ~0.03 PgC yr−1 (~7% of the Atlantic Ocean sink). These field results validate theoretical, modelling and observational-based efforts, all of which predicted that accounting for near-surface temperature gradients would increase estimates of global ocean CO2 uptake. Accounting for this increased ocean uptake will probably require some revision to how global carbon budgets are quantified."

Climate Change Weekly # 528 – Farm Groups Fear Losing Climate Subsidies, Not Climate Change Itself - The Heartland Institute

Enhanced ocean CO2 uptake due to near-surface temperature gradients (open access)

Fig. 1: Schematic indicating the modulation of air–sea CO2 fluxes by vertical temperature gradients.

Deep ocean crystals in hydrothermal vents reveal clues about origins of life

Amazing stuff!

"Researchers ... have discovered inorganic nanostructures surrounding deep-ocean hydrothermal vents that are strikingly similar to molecules that make life as we know it possible. These nanostructures are self-organized and act as selective ion channels, which create energy that can be harnessed in the form of electricity. ... the findings impact not only our understanding of how life began, but can also be applied to industrial blue-energy harvesting. ...

researchers were studying serpentinite-hosted hydrothermal vents because this kind of vent has mineral precipitates with a very complex layered structure formed from metal oxides, hydroxides, and carbonates. “Unexpectedly ... discovered that osmotic energy conversion, a vital function in modern plant, animal, and microbial life , can occur abiotically in a geological environment ...

The researchers were studying samples collected from the Shinkai Seep Field, located in the Pacific Ocean’s Mariana Trench at a depth of 5743 m. The key sample was an 84-cm piece composed mostly of brucite. Optical microscopes and scans with micrometer-sized X-ray beams revealed that brucite crystals were arranged in continuous columns that acted as nano-channels for the vent fluid. The researchers noticed that the surface of the precipitate was electrically charged, and that the size and direction of the charge—positive or negative—varied across the surface. Knowing that structured nanopores with variable charge are the hallmarks of osmotic energy conversion, they next tested whether osmotic energy conversion was indeed occurring naturally in the inorganic deep-sea rock.

The team used an electrode to record the current-voltage of the samples. When the samples were exposed to high concentrations of potassium chloride, the conductance was proportional to the salt concentration at the surface of the nanopores. But at lower concentrations, the conductance was constant, not proportional, and was determined by the local electrical charge of the precipitate’s surface. This charge-governed ion transport is very similar to voltage-gated ion channels observed in living cells like neurons.

By testing the samples with chemical gradients that exist in the deep ocean from where they were extracted, the researchers were able to show that the nanopores act as selective ion channels. At locations with carbonate adhered to the surface, the nanopores allowed positive sodium ions to flow through. However, at nanopores with calcium adhered to the surface, the pores only allowed negative chloride ions to pass through. ..."

From the abstract:

"Cells harvest energy from ionic gradients by selective ion transport across membranes, and the same principle is recently being used for osmotic power generation from salinity gradients at ocean-river interfaces. Common to these ionic gradient conversions is that they require intricate nanoscale structures. Here, we show that natural submarine serpentinite-hosted hydrothermal vent (HV) precipitates are capable of converting ionic gradients into electrochemical energy by selective transport of Na+, K+, H+, and Cl-. Layered hydroxide nanocrystals are aligned radially outwards from the HV fluid channels, constituting confined nanopores that span millimeters in the HV wall. The nanopores change the surface charge depending on adsorbed ions, allowing the mineral to function as a cation- and anion-selective ion transport membrane. Our findings indicate that chemical disequilibria originating from flow and concentration gradients in geologic environments generate confined nanospaces which enable the spontaneous establishment of osmotic energy conversion."

Deep ocean crystals reveal clues about origins of life

Nanostructures in the deep ocean floor hint at life's origin (original news release)

Nanostructures in the deep ocean floor hint at life’s origin (original news release by RIKEN)

Osmotic energy conversion in serpentinite-hosted deep-sea hydrothermal vents (open access)

Fig. 6: Osmotic power generation by selective ion transport in hydrothermal vent (HV) precipitates.

Antarctic Krill's are likely amongst the world’s most important carbon-storing organisms

Recommendable! This is only about the antarctic krill! What about the arctic krill?

We still know very little about the very complex natural phenomenon climate! Global Warming is a hoax and Climate Change is a religion! Climatology is more of a pseudoscience or nascent science then a mature  science.

"Antarctic krill are likely amongst the world’s most important carbon-storing organisms, according to a new study published in the influential Nature Communications journal. The findings, after a decade of research, have amazed the team behind the evaluation.

The researchers estimate that Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) annually lock at least 20 million tonnes of carbon into the deep ocean.

These estimates put krill on a par with key coastal habitats such as saltmarshes, mangroves, and seagrasses, which sequester 13, 24 and 44 million tonnes of carbon per year, respectively. These areas are increasingly being placed in conservation zones due to their role in greenhouse gas reduction and habitat survival. ..."

From the abstract:

"The carbon sequestration potential of open-ocean pelagic ecosystems is vastly under-reported compared to coastal vegetation ‘blue carbon’ systems. Here we show that just a single pelagic harvested species, Antarctic krill, sequesters a similar amount of carbon through its sinking faecal pellets as marshes, mangroves and seagrass. Due to their massive population biomass, fast-sinking faecal pellets and the modest depths that pellets need to reach to achieve sequestration (mean is 381 m), Antarctic krill faecal pellets sequester 20 MtC per productive season (spring to early Autumn). This is equates USD$ 4 − 46 billion depending on the price of carbon, with krill pellet carbon stored for at least 100 years and with some reaching as far as the North Pacific. Antarctic krill are being impacted by rapid polar climate change and an expanding fishery, thus krill populations and their habitat warrant protection to preserve this valuable carbon sink."

Krill's role in carbon sequestration amazes scientists

Antarctic krill can lock away similar levels of carbon as seagrass and mangroves (original news release) "Small marine crustaceans are as valuable as key coastal habitats for storing carbon and should be similarly protected, according to new research."

Antarctic krill sequester similar amounts of carbon to key coastal blue carbon habitats (open access)

Fig. 1: Circumpolar krill faecal pellet carbon sequestration flux.

20 Years of Ocean Currents: What Climate Activists Got Wrong

Recommendable! A little bit too short this video! And what about e.g. the multidecadal oscillations of the oceans etc. 

Indeed, what goes on in the vast oceans is most likely still very poorly understood by humans!

Female whale shark with satellite transmitter for record-breaking four years shows consistent migrations

Amazing stuff!

"A team of researchers at the University of Rhode Island and Nova Southeastern University in Florida have been tracking a 26-foot endangered whale shark—named "Rio Lady"—with a satellite transmitter for more than four years—a record for whale sharks and one of the longest tracking endeavors for any species of shark. ...
Whale sharks, which live from 80 to 130 years, are the world's largest fish and third largest creature in the ocean—behind blue and fin whales. ...
Annually, they need to travel about 5,000 miles to find enough food to survive."

From the abstract:

"Context

Satellite telemetry has revolutionised the study of animal movement, particularly for mobile marine animals, whose movements and habitat make consistent, long-term observation difficult.

Aims

Summarise the movements of Rio Lady, a mature female whale shark (Rhincodon typus), to characterise these movements, and to predict expected behaviour throughout the Gulf of Mexico (GOM).

Methods

Rio Lady was tracked using satellite telemetry for over 1600 days, generating over 1400 locations and travelling over 40,000 km. State–space and move persistence modelling enabled characterisation of behaviour, and machine learning (ML) enabled the development of habitat-suitability models to predict habitat utilisation, on the basis of location transmissions and their environmental covariates.

Key results

Rio Lady exhibited annually consistent patterns of movements among three regions within the GOM. Final ML models produced seasonally dynamic predictions of habitat use throughout the GOM.

Conclusions

The application of these methods to long-term location data exemplifies how long-term movement patterns and core areas can be discovered and predicted for marine animals.

Implications

Despite our limited dataset, our integrative approach advances methods to summarise and predict behaviour of mobile species and improve understanding of their ecology."

Female whale shark with satellite transmitter for record-breaking four years shows consistent migrations

Tracking 4 years in the life of a female whale shark shows consistent migrations in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean (no public access)

Metallic minerals on the ocean floor about 4 km deep split water to generate oxygen in complete darkness

Amazing stuff! This discovery may impact future deep sea mining!

"The surprising discovery challenges long-held assumptions that only photosynthetic organisms, such as plants and algae, generate Earth's oxygen. But the new finding shows there might be another way. It appears oxygen also can be produced at the seafloor—where no light can penetrate—to support the oxygen-breathing (aerobic) sea life living in complete darkness. ...
“Several large-scale mining companies now aim to extract these precious elements from the seafloor at depths of 10,000 to 20,000 feet below the surface. We need to rethink how to mine these materials, so that we do not deplete the oxygen source for deep-sea life.” ...

To investigate this hypothesis, ... shipped several pounds of the polymetallic nodules collected from the ocean floor to ... laboratory ...

Just 1.5 volts — the same voltage as a typical AA battery — is enough to split seawater into hydrogen and oxygen. Amazingly, the team recorded voltages of up to 0.95 volts on the surface of single nodules. And when multiple nodules clustered together, the voltage can be much more significant, just like when batteries are connected in a series. ..."

From the abstract:

"Deep-seafloor organisms consume oxygen, which can be measured by in situ benthic chamber experiments. Here we report such experiments at the polymetallic nodule-covered abyssal seafloor in the Pacific Ocean in which oxygen increased over two days to more than three times the background concentration, which from ex situ incubations we attribute to the polymetallic nodules. Given high voltage potentials (up to 0.95 V) on nodule surfaces, we hypothesize that seawater electrolysis may contribute to this dark oxygen production."

Metallic minerals on the deep-ocean floor split water to generate 'dark oxygen,' new study finds An international team of researchers, including a Northwestern University chemist, has discovered that metallic minerals on the deep-ocean floor produce oxygen—[4.000 m) below the surface.

Deep-ocean floor produces its own ‘dark oxygen’ (original news release) New study finds metallic minerals act as geobatteries to split water

Evidence of dark oxygen production at the abyssal seafloor (open access)

Antarctic Circumpolar Current: How Earth’s most powerful ocean current changed over the past 5.3 million years

Recommendable, but you have to discount the climate change garbage contained in the article!

Fact is we still know so very little about what goes on in our vast oceans not to mention its effects on climate over time! It is actually shocking how little we know about our oceans in the 21st century, it is like terra incognita! This reason alone disqualifies already any Global Warming and Climate Change propaganda and demagoguery!

This study also only scratches in tiny ways the surface of our understanding of oceanology! Anything else is pretense of knowledge!

"The Antarctic Circumpolar Current is the most powerful current system on Earth. It moves 100 times as much water as all the Earth’s rivers combined in a circular current that flows clockwise around Antarctica.

In recent decades the ACC has been speeding up, but scientists have been unsure whether this increase is connected to human-induced global warming.

Now, new research indicates that the ACC slowed down during cold glacial periods in the past and gained speed during warm interglacial times – these speedups also correlate with major losses of Antarctica’s ice.
“The ACC has a major influence on heat distribution and CO2 storage in the ocean,” ..."

"... The Antarctic Circumpolar Current plays an important part in global overturning circulation, the exchange of heat and CO2 between the ocean and atmosphere, and the stability of Antarctica’s ice sheets. An international research team led by the Alfred Wegener Institute and the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory have now used sediments taken from the South Pacific to reconstruct the flow speed in the last 5.3 million years. Their data show that during glacial periods, the current slowed; during interglacials, it accelerated. Consequently, if the current global warming intensifies in the future, it could mean that the Southern Ocean stores less CO2 and that more heat reaches Antarctica. The study was just released in the journal Nature. ..."

From the abstract:

"The Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) represents the world’s largest ocean-current system and affects global ocean circulation, climate and Antarctic ice-sheet stability. Today, ACC dynamics are controlled by atmospheric forcing, oceanic density gradients and eddy activity. Whereas palaeoceanographic reconstructions exhibit regional heterogeneity in ACC position and strength over Pleistocene glacial–interglacial cycles, the long-term evolution of the ACC is poorly known. Here we document changes in ACC strength from sediment cores in the Pacific Southern Ocean. We find no linear long-term trend in ACC flow since 5.3 million years ago (Ma), in contrast to global cooling and increasing global ice volume. Instead, we observe a reversal on a million-year timescale, from increasing ACC strength during Pliocene global cooling to a subsequent decrease with further Early Pleistocene cooling. This shift in the ACC regime coincided with a Southern Ocean reconfiguration that altered the sensitivity of the ACC to atmospheric and oceanic forcings. We find ACC strength changes to be closely linked to 400,000-year eccentricity cycles, probably originating from modulation of precessional changes in the South Pacific jet stream linked to tropical Pacific temperature variability. A persistent link between weaker ACC flow, equatorward-shifted opal deposition and reduced atmospheric CO2 during glacial periods first emerged during the Mid-Pleistocene Transition (MPT). The strongest ACC flow occurred during warmer-than-present intervals of the Plio-Pleistocene, providing evidence of potentially increasing ACC flow with future climate warming."

Earth’s most powerful ocean current changed with the climate

Evolution of the most powerful ocean current on Earth (original press release) Ocean sediment cores reveal climate-related fluctuations in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current in past epochs

Five million years of Antarctic Circumpolar Current strength variability (open access)

Driven by powerful winds, the Antarctic Circumpolar Current swirls clockwise around the southern continent. Hotter colors represent higher velocities; red dots are drill sites.

Fig. 2: ACC strength changes over the past three glacial cycles (records along north–south transects from the SAZ to the AZ and west–east across the EPR in the SAZ) compared with Antarctic ice-core temperature and atmospheric CO2 records.

Fig. 5: Schematic illustrating key atmospheric and oceanic processes influencing million-year trends in ACC strength.