Marine geology is the branch of Earth sciences that investigates the composition, structure, and evolution of the ocean basins and continental margins, integrating methods from sedimentology, geophysics, geochemistry, and tectonics. It examines processes such as seafloor spreading, subduction, sediment transport and deposition, volcanic and hydrothermal activity, and the formation of features like mid-ocean ridges, trenches, seamounts, and passive margins. Marine geological research relies heavily on seismic reflection profiling, coring, dredging, and remote sensing to reconstruct paleoenvironmental conditions, quantify sediment budgets, and constrain models of plate boundary dynamics and crust–mantle interactions beneath the oceans.
When we dream of landscapes, we might imagine rolling valleys or rugged mountains. But there is a whole landscape hidden from human view: the secret world of the seafloor.
Earth Sciences
Feb 22, 2026
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Volcanic eruptions are significant geologic hazards. Underwater volcanoes are challenging to study, yet they play an integral role in marine geology and may cause destructive tsunamis that can threaten coastal communities.
Earth Sciences
Feb 20, 2026
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An international team of scientists has uncovered evidence glaciers in the Southern and Northern hemispheres were synchronous during the last ice age.
Earth Sciences
Jan 13, 2026
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A multinational scientific team led by UiT has uncovered the deepest known gas hydrate cold seep on the planet. The discovery was made during the Ocean Census Arctic Deep–EXTREME24 expedition and reveals a previously unknown ...
Earth Sciences
Dec 22, 2025
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A new study published in Scientific Reports reports the discovery of a remarkably extensive hydrothermal vent field on the shelf of Milos Island, Greece. The vents were identified during the METEOR expedition M192, where ...
Earth Sciences
Dec 1, 2025
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Sixty-million-year-old rock samples from deep under the ocean have revealed how huge amounts of carbon dioxide are stored for millennia in piles of lava rubble that accumulate on the seafloor.
Earth Sciences
Nov 24, 2025
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A large research study by an international team of scientists led by Christoph Böttner from Aarhus University shows clear evidence of extensive natural hydrocarbon seepage along the Northeast Greenland margin—one of the least ...
Earth Sciences
Nov 12, 2025
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At the end of the last ice age, billions of boulders and cobbles were left scattered over southern Scandinavia. Huge ice sheets had dragged the rocks from mountainous regions further north down to the Baltic Sea areas. When ...
Ecology
Sep 18, 2025
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21
An "enormous" submerged mountain that rivals peaks in the Rockies has been mapped for the first time in a previously unexplored area of the western Pacific, according to NOAA Ocean Exploration.
Earth Sciences
Sep 12, 2025
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The murky world at the bottom of the oceans is now a little clearer, thanks to a new study that tracks the evolution of marine sediment layers across hundreds of millions of years.
Earth Sciences
Aug 11, 2025
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