Marine biologists informally classify marine animals into two large groups: invertebrates and vertebrates. Vertebrates have backbones, while invertebrates do not. There are far more invertebrates than vertebrates in the ocean, but the vertebrates-wh...
Water's unique chemical structure gives it much higher freezing and boiling points than would otherwise be the case. This has a great deal to do with Earth being as hospitable to life as it is. That same chemical structure also gives water exception...
Thermohaline circulation is driven by differences in temperature and salinity, as opposed to circulation driven by wind. Understanding patterns of water movement may be crucial to better understanding global climate and climate change.
Obtaining accurate salinity measurements is vitally important because salt, along with temperature, has a significant impact on the density of seawater. And this, in turn, greatly affects ocean structure and circulation.
While both seawater and freshwater contain a wide array of minerals and other constituents, the amount of salt in seawater is generally greater than in any other large body of standing water. There are a number of ways in which salt is added to seaw...
Renowned oceanographer and geophysicist Walter Munk talks about efforts to measure ocean warming through the use of sound--a process known as dark acoustic thermometry. Professor Munk notes that since the speed of sound increases in the ocean with t...
Fishes survive in the ocean in part due to their sensory mechanisms. They utilize both sight and smell in this regard, as well as what's called a lateral line system. This is a series of pores and canals along the body and sometimes on the head that...
Renowned oceanographer and geophysicist Walter Munk talks about the potential use of tidal power to generate electricity. He notes that the Bay of Fundy is frequently mentioned as a possible site for this sort of power generation. According to Dr. M...
Renowned oceanographer and geophysicist Walter Munk talks about the impact of sound on marine animals. He discusses the campaign of environmental groups to cut down on noise pollution in the ocean--a campaign which Professor Munk argues resulted in ...
The third planet out from the sun, Earth is unique in many ways. But perhaps the most significant is that seventy percent of Earth's surface is covered with water.