Planet Ocean

Despite the names "Atlantic" and "Pacific," the ocean is one giant interconnected ecosystem. Learn about the systems that hold it together, from sea ice and volcanoes to currents and chemistry.

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Seafloor Earthquakes Study

Geophysicist Jian Lin of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and chief U.S. scientist aboard the Chinese oceanographic ship DaYang Yihao studied the earthquake site that triggered 2004’s...
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Buoy Collects Data on the Open Ocean

Sponsored by the United Nations, the Global Ocean Observing System is committed...
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Five Questions for Robert Ballard

As children, many people have dreamed of plunging beneath the ocean surface to...
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Submarine Volcanoes and Hydrothermal Vents

Recent scientific discoveries have revealed an underwater community of marine...

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What We DON'T Know About the Deep Sea

Jul 13, 2012 - 1:01PM
Imagine: You’re in a small submersible, and you gently settle on the soft muddy bottom at a depth of 12,000 feet. It’s absolutely dark. What will you see when the exterior lights are turned on? Will you discover underwater...

Smithsonian Scientists Describe a '...

Mar 8, 2012 - 10:22AM
Monodontids, the group of whales that includes the belugas and narwhals...

Arctic Sea Ice: A New Low?

Sep 8, 2011 - 4:04PM
At a recent staff meeting a Smithsonian colleague mentioned that one of his...

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Hydrothermal Vent Creatures

Travel to a world of perpetual night--the deep ocean hydrothermal vents near the Galapagos Rift where life thrives around...

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