Earth’s largest water reservoir could be 1,800 miles beneath the surface

When Jules Verne first published his story “Journey to the Center of the Earth”, it was fantasy that one could sail across a vast ocean deep below the surface of the earth, but many became fascinated by what could exist thousands of miles beneath our feet. These fantasies remain even today as we are unable to study the innermost layers of our planet directly, but new research techniques reveal the Earth’s core may be more like Verne’s version after all.

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The Noble Sea Sponge and its Role in Global Carbon Cycling

Global cycling of chemicals and nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, and silicon (Si) drive one of the most important biological processes on our planet, primary production and the removal of carbon from our atmosphere. What happens when the largest carbon and silicon sink isn’t actually as big as scientists originally thought? Chemical oceanographers Manuel Maldonado and his colleagues have come up with a new way to study the oceans most important chemical cycles and the surprisingly important role of the simple sea sponge.

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Crowdsourcing Sharks: a citizen science success story

Conserving the environment and its organisms works most effectively when managers and scientists have a lot of environmental information. However, some of the world’s most vulnerable animals, like the sand tiger shark, are also the most secretive. Luckily for these scary looking predators, amateur scientists can be an agent of change.

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How the Driest Regions on the Planet Add to Sea Level Rise

Terrestrial water loss is a major contributor to water stress around the world. Areas that are hydrologically isolated tend to lose water twice as fast as other regions. But where does that water go? New evidence is showing that water from the driest regions on the planet may have a consequential impact on global sea level rise.

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