science and technology

Computer simulations performed by researchers at the National Oceanography Centre and the University of Glasgow show how oceanic stirring and mixing influence the formation and dynamics of plankton patches in the upper ocean.

Tiny free-floating marine plants called phytoplankton live in vast numbers in the sunlit upper ocean. Through the process…

The United Nations has declared 8 June as World Oceans Day after the concept was proposed at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. The goal of World Oceans Day is to raise awareness of how vital the ocean is and its importance in daily life.

Test your knowledge of the oceans by answering this quick quiz:

How much of…

The Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) is starting its 50th anniversary celebrations on 8 June, World Oceans Day.

In 2008, the UN General Assembly decided that, as from 2009, 8 June would be designated as ‘World Oceans Day’ to raise global awareness of the challenges faced by the international community in connection with the oceans.…

A two-year project, which will provide vital information on the interaction between the ocean and the atmosphere and its influence on climate, begins this month.

Scientists at the National Oceanography Centre (NOC), University of Leeds, and the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) are collaborating on the ‘Waves, Aerosols and Gas Exchange Study’ (WAGES),…

In May 2010, the National Oceanography Centre (NOC) joins forces with the UK Met Office to enhance ocean monitoring at the Porcupine Abyssal Plain sustained observatory (PAP-SO), the longest multidisciplinary open-ocean time-series observatory in Europe. This collaboration should both advance scientific understanding of the ocean and improve climate…

A team led by scientists from the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, have today set sail from Govan in Scotland towards the region of the North Atlantic ocean affected by ash from the Icelandic volcano eruption to investigate potential impacts on ocean biology.

In many regions of the ocean the productivity of microscopic plants, called…

Professor Edward Hill has been appointed Director of the Natural Environment Research Council’s new National Oceanography Centre.

He said, “I am delighted to have the opportunity to lead the new NERC National Oceanography Centre, which will be a major centre of marine science excellence internationally. The oceans are vital to all life on earth and…

The movement of ocean eddies and other surface water masses over short timescales causes rapid changes in the community composition of marine algae (phytoplankton) in the sunlit upper ocean, according to new findings.

The research, which was conducted by scientists of the National Oceanography Centre (NOC), spotlights intimate links between surface…

The UK’s leading environmental research organisation has commissioned a state-of-the art scientific research ship to replace the RRS Discovery, which was built in 1962 and is coming to the end of her scientifically useful working life.

The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) has today awarded a contract to a Spanish shipyard – C.…

Some regions of the deep ocean floor support abundant populations of organisms, despite being overlain by water that contains very little oxygen, according to an international study led by scientists at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton. But global warming is likely to exacerbate oxygen depletion and thereby reduce biodiversity in these…