Sea turtles and whales may be the charismatic critters of the sea, but the true kingpins of the ocean make up 98 percent of the ocean’s biomass — and yet individually are too small to see with the naked eye. (more…)
University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa geologist Kenneth Rubin is among the first scientists to witness exploding rock and molten lava from a deep sea volcano, seen during a 2009 expedition. He is co-author of a paper reporting that the eruption was near a tear in the Earth’s crust that is mimicking the birth of a subduction zone.
Scientists on the expedition collected boninite, a rare, chemically distinct lava that accompanies the formation of Earth’s subduction zones. (more…)
