Paleoceanography is the scientific study of past ocean states, processes, and variability on geological timescales, using physical, chemical, biological, and isotopic proxies preserved in marine sediments, microfossils, corals, and other archives. It reconstructs parameters such as sea-surface and deep-water temperatures, salinity, circulation patterns, biogeochemical cycles, ice volume, and sea level, often through analyses of stable and radiogenic isotopes, trace metals, and sedimentological characteristics. Paleoceanography is central to understanding ocean–climate feedbacks, carbon cycle dynamics, and the response of the ocean system to external forcings, and it provides critical boundary conditions and validation targets for climate and Earth system models.
Research reveals when and why ancient tropical seas transitioned from oxygen oases to marine dead zones, providing clues to the long-term evolution of oceanic environments.
Earth Sciences
Jan 16, 2026
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22
New research from Adelaide University suggests the power of the ancient Tethys Ocean might have shaped Central Asia's topography during the Cretaceous period.
Earth Sciences
Jan 14, 2026
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1
Using images from cameras on Mars orbiters, an international research team has discovered structures on Mars that are very similar to classic river deltas on Earth. These are traces of rivers that have deposited their sediments ...
Astrobiology
Jan 12, 2026
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84
To understand how global warming could influence future climate, scientists look to the Paleogene Period that began 66 million years ago, covering a time when Earth's atmospheric carbon dioxide levels were two to four times ...
Earth Sciences
Jan 9, 2026
2
114
Oxygen isotopes data enable researchers to look far back into the geologic past and reconstruct the climate of the past. In doing so, they consider several factors such as ocean temperature and ice volume in polar regions. ...
Earth Sciences
Jan 7, 2026
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0
Climate change has many culprits, from agriculture to transportation to energy production. Now, add another: the deep ocean salty blob.
Earth Sciences
Jan 7, 2026
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21
Earth system box models are essential tools for reconstructing long-term climatic and environmental evolution and uncovering Earth system mechanisms. To overcome the spatiotemporal resolution limitations of current deep-time ...
Earth Sciences
Jan 6, 2026
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2
A research team led by scientists at Kumamoto University has discovered a new genus of microscopic crustaceans from northern Japan, offering rare insights into how ocean currents in the North Pacific shifted during a key ...
Paleontology & Fossils
Dec 29, 2025
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155
For roughly 2 billion years of Earth's early history, the atmosphere contained no oxygen, the essential ingredient required for complex life. Oxygen began building up during the period known as the Great Oxidation Event (GOE), ...
Astrobiology
Dec 9, 2025
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13
Two new publications remap the understanding of reverse weathering in the scientific community. The Dauphin Island Sea Lab's Senior Marine Scientist, Dr. Jeffrey Krause, played a key role in both projects, which include several ...
Earth Sciences
Dec 2, 2025
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8
