Techniques developed to study the distant past—from dating ancient artifacts to reconstructing climate records in ice cores—are now being repurposed to better understand the lives of modern sea turtles. Using radiocarbon methods from archaeology, researchers show that sea turtle shell plates are biological time capsules that record signs of major environmental disturbances in the ocean.

Rising temperatures in a Southcentral Alaska river have led to a hungrier population of invasive northern pike, a trend that could imperil native salmon and other fish species.

A University of Alaska Fairbanks-led research team analyzed the stomach contents of northern pike caught by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Deshka River during the summers of 2021 and 2022. The team compared the contents to samples from pike collected a decade earlier.

Pike of every age class ate more fish as temperatures increased, including a huge 63 percent rise among year-old pike.

“We expect there will be significant warming in the future, and the amount of fish that pike consume is going to increase with it,” said Benjamin Rich, who led the study while pursuing his graduate degree at the UAF College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences.

New analyses of ancient ice from Antarctica and the air contained inside it are extending the history of Earth’s climate records and expanding researchers’ understanding of how the planet has changed over the last 3 million years.

A research team developed a satellite-based method to analyze the life cycle of ocean eddies forming along Arctic sea-ice edges. 

Sea ice around Antarctica expanded for several decades until a dramatic decline in 2015. The reasons behind this are revealed by research from the University of Gothenburg.

The rocks beneath our feet are leaving a hidden signature in the shells of marine snails along Australia’s ancient coastline, according to new research led by Adelaide University scientists.