Due West: Malibu Coast, The
The Malibu coast is plagued by serious erosion problems-especially landslides. Given that coastal erosion is an unavoidable fact of life, the focus in this fabled community is not so much on stopping it, but finding ways..
Due West: Point Mugu Naval Air Station
Restoration and protection of the Point Mugu, California wetlands has been a great success story, despite the challenges associated with agricultural runoff and other by-products of urbanization.
Due West: Ventura, California Marina
The Ventura, California marina was built in the 1950s with little or no understanding of the dredging that would be necessary to counteract the accumulation of sediment underwater. As a result the harbor has not function..
Early Evidence of Continental Drift
Geophysicist and geologist Tanya Atwater points to the jig-saw puzzle fit of Africa and South America as the most obvious evidence supporting the theory of continental drift.
First Steps: The History of Marine Exploration: Matthew Fontaine Maury
Perhaps the first person for whom oceanography was a full-time occupation, Matthew Fontaine Maury began charting winds and ocean currents for the United States Navy in the mid-19th century. He is considered by many to be..
First Steps: The History of Marine Exploration: Oceanographic Institutions
The world's first oceanographic laboratory was built not in the United States or Great Britain but in Italy. The two best known marine science institutions today, however, are the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, loc..
First Steps: The History of Marine Exploration: Technology and Collaboration
The past hundred years has been a time of explosive growth and change within marine science. Perhaps the greatest change has been the recognition that, if it is to flourish, oceanography must be practiced in a collaborat..
Food for Thought: Conditions Required for Photosynthesis
The first step in the primary production process is photosynthesis. It can only take place if certain critical conditions are met, including the presence of light and chemical nutrients. Temperature also plays a role, wi..
Food for Thought: Global Patterns of Primary Productivity
Phytoplankton tend to concentrate in areas where the conditions for their growth and reproduction are optimal. Some of the most productive waters include the Antarctic and the North Atlantic during the springtime.
Food for Thought: Primary Producers and Photosynthesis
Primary producers are marine organisms so small that most of them can't be seen individually without magnification. But despite their small size, primary producers are extremely important. They take energy from other sou..