Massive shark tooth discovered in samples from Pacific Ocean floor

In a shipment of rocks from about 10,000 feet deep in the Pacific Ocean, University of Rhode Island’s Marine Geological Samples Laboratory discovered a fossil of a shark tooth, which has since been identified as belonging to an ancient megalodon.

Continue reading "Massive shark tooth discovered in samples from Pacific Ocean floor"

GSO Marine Chemistry, Geology and Geophysics Lecture Series: Kristina Walowski, Ph.D.

Kristina Walowski, Ph.D. from Western Washington University presents at GSO’s Marine Chemistry, Geology and Geophysics Lecture Series with her lecture titled “Boron recycling in the mantle: Evidence from a global comparison of ocean island basalts.”

Continue reading "GSO Marine Chemistry, Geology and Geophysics Lecture Series: Kristina Walowski, Ph.D."

New URI oceanography professor to manage $94 million ocean exploration institute

Adam Soule is not only a new professor of oceanography at the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography, he is set to lead one of the largest research initiatives in the University’s history.

Continue reading "New URI oceanography professor to manage $94 million ocean exploration institute"

The archaea are winning in energy-poor, oxygen-containing deep-sea sediments

Highly efficient archaea, called Thaumarchaea, out-survive bacteria in the energy-poor, oxygen-containing sediments beneath the deep sea. These Thaumarchaea consume bits of proteins from dead cells to build their own biomass and also to obtain energy.

Continue reading "The archaea are winning in energy-poor, oxygen-containing deep-sea sediments"

Meet the SURFOs: Allyson Murray and Whitney Marshall

How about opportunities to explore different aspects of geoscience? Ask Allyson Murray and Whitney Marshall who are spending ten weeks at the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography as Summer Undergraduate Research Fellow in Oceanography (SURFO). Allyson is a rising senior in Geology and Marine Science at Stockton University. She is working in […]

Continue reading "Meet the SURFOs: Allyson Murray and Whitney Marshall"

GSO scientists to present research at national meeting, Dec. 11-15

Oceanographers from the University of Rhode Island will once again present their research and posters during an international Earth science meeting this month. Faculty, staff and students at the Graduate School of Oceanography are among the thousands of scientists attending the 50th annual gathering of the American Geophysical Union, or AGU, Dec. 11 through 15 […]

Continue reading "GSO scientists to present research at national meeting, Dec. 11-15"

GSO’s Matt Wei wins prestigious NSF early career grant

We all know our planet spins, but did you also know it is constantly changing. Earth’s outer crust moves in pieces over melted rock, coming together and spreading apart to reshape the geological landscape. Those interactions—called the theory of plate tectonics—can cause natural disasters, including earthquakes, which are especially destructive. It’s crucial, then, that scientists […]

Continue reading "GSO’s Matt Wei wins prestigious NSF early career grant"