science and technology

The challenges facing the ocean environment in the 21st Century are the subject of a key conference later this year.

Preparations are under way for the 14th Biennial Challenger Conference for Marine Science, which takes place at the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton, from 6–9 September 2010.

Even in the dark abyss of the deep ocean animal communities can undergo rapid, widespread and radical changes. Scientists at the National Oceanography Centre are at the forefront of monitoring these changes and understanding the mechanisms responsible. Their latest research is published in a special issue of the journal Deep Sea Research II.

Iron is recognised as a nutrient, the lack of which limits plankton growth in some parts of the ocean. By adding small quantities of iron to the surface of the ocean, plankton growth can be stimulated (‘the iron hypothesis’), potentially providing a means of extracting carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and sequestering it in the deep ocean for hundreds of years.

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.

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.

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

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.

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 prediction.

Durlston Dolphin Project by Ed Harland

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.