Ocean sciences articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Corals may vary in their ability to regulate reactive oxygen species (ROS) that can influence coral health. Diaz and colleagues conductin vivomeasurements of the ROS superoxide at the surface of corals and find substantial species-level variation in superoxide regulation that is independent of bleaching status.

    • Julia M. Diaz
    • , Colleen M. Hansel
    •  & Liping Xun

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Internal solitary waves are widespread within oceans, lakes and the atmosphere but their origin is uncertain. Here we show a rare natural case of the birth of internal solitary waves arising from the head of a frontally-forced intrusion as observed in the Saguenay Fjord, Canada.

    • Daniel Bourgault
    • , Peter S. Galbraith
    •  & Cédric Chavanne

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A lack of annually resolved climate records from the marine archive limits our understanding of oceanic processes. Here, the authors present a millennial-length, annually-resolved and absolutely-dated marine δ18O record from the shells of marine bivalves and offer insight into North Atlantic climate dynamics.

    • D. J. Reynolds
    • , J. D. Scourse
    •  & I. R. Hall

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Understanding the production processes behind oceanic sources of nitrous oxide (N2O), a potent greenhouse gas, is of critical importance. Here, the authors reveal an archaeal-mediated N2O production pathway in the North Pacific, which increases exponentially with decreasing oxygen.

    • Mark Trimmer
    • , Panagiota-Myrsini Chronopoulou
    •  & Kevin J. Purdy

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Super typhoons pose significant societal threats, yet their future behaviour due to rainfall-driven stratification changes remains unexplored. Here, observations and climate models reveal increased precipitation and subsequent freshening will likely intensify future super typhoons in the western N. Pacific.

    • Karthik Balaguru
    • , Gregory R. Foltz
    •  & Kerry A. Emanuel

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Deep convection in the Irminger Sea has been shown to be highly variable on annual timescales. Here, the authors provide a direct link between atmospheric forcing and anthropogenic carbon storage and oxygen ventilation based on a unique cruise dataset acquired during active deep water formation.

    • F. Fröb
    • , A. Olsen
    •  & B. Rajasakaren

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Large methane hydrates reserves are found in mud volcanoes, but climate change may lead to methane release. Here, the authors show that methane adsorption creates overpressures leading to rapid recirculation of seawater, thus reducing the melting timescales of methane hydrates from millennia to decades.

    • Silvana S. S. Cardoso
    •  & Julyan H. E. Cartwright

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ice-shelf bottom melting is thought to cause mass loss in West Antarctica. Here, the authors analyse radar observations of the Dotson and Crosson ice shelves to directly quantify grounding zone unbalanced melting of up to 70 m per year, and illustrate its relation with bed topography and grounding line retreat.

    • Ala Khazendar
    • , Eric Rignot
    •  & Isabella Velicogna

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) describes an eastward propagating pulse of tropical convection. Here, using short-term field measurements, Moum et al. illustrate an MJO memory effect: strong pulses drive enhanced ocean heat loss, weakening subsequent pulses, with implications for MJO prediction.

    • James N. Moum
    • , Kandaga Pujiana
    •  & William D. Smyth

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Most of the ocean kinetic energy is contained in the large scale geostrophic currents and the pathways of energy toward dissipation are still in question. Here, the authors show that flow-topography interactions can generate submesoscale wakes and provide an efficient route to energy dissipation.

    • Jonathan Gula
    • , M. Jeroen Molemaker
    •  & James C. McWilliams

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Anthropogenic lead (Pb) has overwhelmed natural Pb sources for over a century, yet the phasing out of leaded petrol in the early 2000s has renewed hope. Here, Bridgestock et al. use Pd isotopes to reassess the origins of Pd deposited in the tropical North Atlantic and reveal a significant natural source.

    • Luke Bridgestock
    • , Tina van de Flierdt
    •  & Hein J. W. de Baar

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The importance of oxygen in supporting early animal ecosystems is unclear because most proxies are unable to distinguish well-oxygenated from intermediate waters. Here, the authors show that early skeletal animals were restricted to well-oxygenated habitats, suggesting they had a high metabolic oxygen demand.

    • R. Tostevin
    • , R. A. Wood
    •  & M. O. Clarkson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Over 5,000 km of open ocean separate central and eastern Pacific coral reefs. Here, the authors combine a biophysical dispersal model with genetic data to show that eastern Pacific coral populations have been isolated from western sources of larval recruitment since the 1997-98 El Niño-induced bleaching event.

    • S. Wood
    • , I. B. Baums
    •  & E. J. Hendy

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Antarctic bottom water (AABW) production is critical to the global ocean overturning circulation. Here, the authors show new observations of AABW formation from seal CTD data in Prydz Bay, East Antarctica that highlights its susceptibility to increased freshwater input from the melting of ice shelves.

    • G. D. Williams
    • , L. Herraiz-Borreguero
    •  & M. Hindell

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The precise contribution of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) melt to global sea-level rise remains enigmatic. Here, the authors generate an ice sheet thinning history for the Weddell Sea embayment and propose that this sector of the WAIS contributed to mid-Holocene, rather than late-glacial sea-level rise.

    • Andrew S. Hein
    • , Shasta M. Marrero
    •  & David E. Sugden

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Coral reefs are productive ecosystems due to high levels of nutrient recycling in which fishes play a critical role. This study shows fishing can reduce the amount of nutrients supplied and stored by fishes to coral reefs by nearly half, even when the number of fish species present is largely unchanged.

    • Jacob E. Allgeier
    • , Abel Valdivia
    •  & Craig A. Layman

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Recent modelling studies have indicated that the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf in Antarctica might be susceptible to the influx of warmer waters, yet observations evidence is lacking. Here, the authors present observations from the ice shelf, and show that warm water pulses already bathe the shelf.

    • E. Darelius
    • , I. Fer
    •  & K. W. Nicholls

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Large positive sulphur isotope excursions, recorded in the wake of the Marinoan glaciation have previously been interpreted assuming stable ocean sulphate concentrations. Here, using multiple sulphur isotopes, the authors instead suggest significant ocean sulphate drawdown, driven by increased pyrite burial.

    • Pierre Sansjofre
    • , Pierre Cartigny
    •  & Magali Ader

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Protection of coastlines from devastating flooding associated with sea-level extremes is impeded by a lack of continuous records. Here, the authors apply a hydrodynamic modelling approach and present the first reanalysis of tides, surges and extreme sea levels for the entire world's coastline.

    • Sanne Muis
    • , Martin Verlaan
    •  & Philip J. Ward

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The cause of a 20% decline in sea floor calcareous foraminifera species during the Mid-Pleistocene remains enigmatic. Here, the authors present new geochemical evidence, from the Tasman Sea that supports a change in phytoplankton food source as the primary driver.

    • Sev Kender
    • , Erin L. McClymont
    •  & Henry Elderfield

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The precise mechanism for wind energy input into the ocean at mesoscales remains uncertain. Here, using a high-resolution atmosphere-ocean model of the South Atlantic, the authors show that a mesoscale conduit associated with oceanic eddies is responsible for up to 10% of kinetic energy transfer.

    • D. Byrne
    • , M. Münnich
    •  & N. Gruber

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Interdecadal modes of tropical Pacific ocean-atmosphere circulation have a strong influence on global temperature. Here, the authors present a 2000-year hydroclimate record from the Indo-Pacific, which suggests that century-scale variations in these modes are also linked with global temperature variability.

    • Michael L. Griffiths
    • , Alena K. Kimbrough
    •  & Wahyoe S. Hantoro

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The nature of the overturning circulation in the Atlantic Ocean during the Last Glacial Maximum remains a topic of contention. Here, using neodymium isotope measurements, the authors demonstrate that North Atlantic Deep Water was produced under glacial climate conditions.

    • Jacob N. W. Howe
    • , Alexander M. Piotrowski
    •  & Germain Bayon

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Seabirds breed in high density colonies, but the factors determining colony position aren't clear. Here, Sandvik et al. show that small-scale coastal topography is related to likely variation in fish larval abundance, which predicts the distribution of seabird colonies along the Norwegian coast.

    • Hanno Sandvik
    • , Robert T. Barrett
    •  & Geir Helge Systad

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The role of thermocline mixing in the Pacific cold tongue in the propagation of ENSO remains uncertain. Here, Liu et al. show a persistent occurrence of mixing events in the middle and lower parts of the thermocline, particularly during tropical instability waves and under La Niña conditions.

    • Chuanyu Liu
    • , Armin Köhl
    •  & Detlef Stammer

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Understanding the timescales of gas hydrate dissociation and methane release are critical to gauge the potential climate impact. Here, the authors report a methane efflux chronology from five sites in Barents and Norwegian seas and show methane release coincident with the release of ice sheet-induced pressure.

    • Antoine Crémière
    • , Aivo Lepland
    •  & Harald Brunstad

  • Article
    | Open Access

    On glacial/interglacial timescales CO2 might have been sequestered from the atmosphere and stored within the deep ocean. Here, the authors show that an old and CO2-rich water mass occupied the glacial South Pacific between ∼2,000 and 4,300 m water depth and was influenced by volcanic CO2from mid-ocean ridges.

    • T. A. Ronge
    • , R. Tiedemann
    •  & L. Wacker

  • Article
    | Open Access

    It has been proposed that sea-surface temperature (SST) anomalies along the Gulf Stream aid regional climate predictions months to years in advance. Here, the authors show that a surface pathway for SST anomalies does not exist, as Gulf Stream waters reach higher latitudes by sub-surface pathways.

    • Nicholas P. Foukal
    •  & M. Susan Lozier

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The adaptive capabilities of planktonic communities to climate change remain uncertain. Here, using Lagrangian particle tracking and network theory, the authors show that surface ocean currents can navigate the globe within 10 years, suggesting that marine plankton may keep pace with climate change.

    • Bror F. Jönsson
    •  & James R. Watson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Large oil spills have negative effects on marine ecosystems, but the effects of chronic smallscale spills are less well understood. Here, Brussaard et al. detect high bioavailability and toxicity of small-scale crude oil spills within 24 hours after release, which are associated with localised declines in marine plankton.

    • Corina P. D. Brussaard
    • , Louis Peperzak
    •  & Jan Roelof van der Meer

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Oxygen depletion in the ocean interior may be closely linked to atmospheric CO2level, yet robust proxies are scarce. Here, using foraminiferal I/Ca as a proxy for oxygenation changes, the authors show that oxygen depletion in the upper waters of the high latitude Southern Ocean occurred during glacials.

    • Zunli Lu
    • , Babette A. A. Hoogakker
    •  & Rosalind E. M. Rickaby

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Predictability of variations in the ocean carbon sink has remained unexplored in previous decadal prediction studies based on modern Earth system models. Here, the authors show that potential predictive skill of the ocean CO2uptake in the North Atlantic western subpolar gyre region is up to 4–7 years.

    • Hongmei Li
    • , Tatiana Ilyina
    •  & Frank Sienz

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Mechanisms for the warming hiatus are inferred by tracking regional ocean heat uptake in different regions. Here, the authors show that the Indo-Pacific heat redistribution holds the key while the abyssal heat uptake in the Atlantic and Southern Oceans primarily reflects the downward penetration of anthropogenic heat.

    • Wei Liu
    • , Shang-Ping Xie
    •  & Jian Lu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Suspended sediment currents travel through channels on the ocean floor to deliver enormous volumes of sediment to the deep ocean. Here, using a new approach for scaled laboratory experiments, the authors show how feedback between these currents and their deposits drive the formation of these submarine channels.

    • Jan de Leeuw
    • , Joris T. Eggenhuisen
    •  & Matthieu J. B. Cartigny

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Reconstructing past ocean conditions, particularly current velocity, is difficult due to a lack of available proxies. Here, the authors present a set of well-preserved buried iceberg scours from the mid-Norwegian slope, from which they are able to infer North Atlantic current speeds during the third-last glacial.

    • Andrew M. W. Newton
    • , Mads Huuse
    •  & Simon H. Brocklehurst

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Accurate forecasts of hurricane intensity remain problematic. Here, using an ocean observing network to inform ocean and atmospheric model simulations, the authors show that consideration of ahead-of-eye cooling improves intensity forecasts.

    • S. M. Glenn
    • , T. N. Miles
    •  & J. Kohut

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The extinction of the ichthyosaurs had previously been attributed to increasing competition or to the loss of their main prey. Here, Fischer et al.analyse phylogenetic and ecological patterns of ichthyosaur diversification and extinction, and find that the decline of the group is more likely due to climatic volatility.

    • Valentin Fischer
    • , Nathalie Bardet
    •  & Matt Friedman

  • Article
    | Open Access

    While numerous studies have indicated that carbon export to the deep ocean was greater during glacial periods, quantification is lacking. Here, via analysis of hundreds of sediment cores, the authors show carbon accumulation rate was 50% higher during glacial maxima than during interglacials.

    • Olivier Cartapanis
    • , Daniele Bianchi
    •  & Eric D. Galbraith

  • Article
    | Open Access

    As the oceans become acidic, corals reefs are threatened, generating a need to understand the driving forces controlling the chemical state of the Great Barrier Reef. Here, the authors show a greater spatial variability than previously reported, created by the interaction of reef processes and ocean circulation.

    • Mathieu Mongin
    • , Mark E. Baird
    •  & Andrew D. L. Steven

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Physical processes by which mesoscale eddies affect subduction remain unclear. Here, through a specially designed eddy-resolving field experiment, the authors capture the eddy enhancement of mode water subduction and transport, and confirm the dominance of eddy lateral advection over the eddy trapping effect.

    • Lixiao Xu
    • , Peiliang Li
    •  & Wendian Gao

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