Paleontologists go back to the future, reconstruct fossilized functional diversity to inform conservation goals
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 13-Sep-2025 11:11 ET (13-Sep-2025 15:11 GMT/UTC)
Scientists have demonstrated for the first time that functional diversity can be accurately inferred from the marine fossil record.
Are basaltic rocks along continental margins suitable for the permanent and safe storage of carbon dioxide? This is the question a team of German and Norwegian researchers will be pursuing on board the research vessel MARIA S. MERIAN. Expedition MSM140 led by Dr. Ingo Klaucke from the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel will investigate geological structures on the Vøring Plateau off the Norwegian coast until 9 October. The aim is to determine whether basalt formations below the seabed are suitable for the long-term geological storage of CO2. The expedition is part of the multinational PERBAS project.
Along the coast, waves break with a familiar sound. The gentle swash of the surf on the seashore can lull us to sleep, while the pounding of storm surge warns us to seek shelter.
Yet these are but a sample of the sounds that come from the coast. Most of the acoustic energy from the surf is far too low in frequency for us to hear, traveling through the air as infrasound and through the ground as seismic waves.
Scientists at UC Santa Barbara have recently characterized these low-frequency signals to track breaking ocean waves. In a study published in Geophysical Journal International, they were able to identify the acoustic and seismic signatures of breaking waves and locate where along the coast the signals came from. The team hopes to develop this into a method for monitoring the sea conditions using acoustic and seismic data.Tulane University scientists published the first global assessment of ecological risks from ocean plastics, showing that the greatest dangers are not always in visible “garbage patches” but in areas where plastics overlap with dense marine life and pollutants. Their model maps worldwide “ecological risk hotspots,” highlighting threats from ingestion, entanglement, pollutant transport, and chemical leaching, with vulnerable zones including the North Pacific, North Atlantic, North Indian Ocean, and coastal East Asia. The study warns that risks could triple by 2060 without stronger action. But coordinated global efforts to reduce plastic use and improve waste management could significantly lessen the threats.
The natural phenomenon of upwelling, which occurs annually in the Gulf of Panama, failed for the first time on record in 2025. A study led by scientists from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) indicates that the weakening of the trade winds was the cause of this event. This finding highlights the climate’s impact on fundamental oceanic processes and the coastal communities that depend on them
Scientists from an International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) working group have called for new research to enhance habitat protection for juvenile fish species. Experts from the ICES' Working Group on the Value of Coastal Habitats for Exploited Species (WGVHES), led by Dr Benjamin Ciotti from the University of Plymouth (UK), undertook a comprehensive review to evaluate the approaches being used to assess juvenile habitat quality. Their resulting study highlights a major gap in the evidence needed to evaluate habitat quality which is in turn leading to a mismatch between policy needs and available science, with management decisions often relying on incomplete or indirect indicators.