Department of Earth Ocean and Atmospheric Science

FSU researchers find decaying biomass in Arctic rivers fuels more carbon export than previously thought

Published: March 13, 2023 | 3:13 pm | Posted in: Science & Technology

Florida State University Professor Robert Spencer sampling the Yukon River at the Yupik village of Pilot Station, Alaska during the peak of spring thaw. (Courtesy of Robert Spencer)

The cycling of carbon through the environment is an essential part of life on the planet. Understanding the various sources and reservoirs of carbon is a major focus of Earth science research. Plants and animals use the element for cellular growth. It can be stored in rocks and minerals or in the ocean. Carbon in […]

Mysteries of the Earth: FSU researchers predict how fast ancient magma ocean solidified

Published: February 27, 2023 | 12:25 pm | Posted in: Science & Technology

An illustration of Earth by Thibaut Roger, showing the planet as it existed during part of its formation billions of years ago, when an ocean of magma covered the surface of the planet and stretched thousands of miles deep into the core. A typical cell from a simulation conducted by FSU researchers with the relative positions of atoms are shown in the left. (Courtesy of Suraj Bajgain / Lake Superior State University)

Early in the formation of Earth, an ocean of magma covered the planet’s surface and stretched thousands of miles deep into its core. The rate at which that “magma ocean” cooled affected the formation of the distinct layering within the Earth and the chemical makeup of those layers. Previous research estimated that it took hundreds […]

The Big Story: February 6, 2023

Published: February 6, 2023 | 1:37 pm | Posted in: The Big Story

Rufina Alamo, the Simon Ostrach Professor of Engineering and a distinguished research professor in the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, and Rob Spencer, a professor in the Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science, are the latest Florida State faculty members to be named Fellows by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, or AAAS. Read more …

FSU researchers named Fellows of American Association for the Advancement of Science

Published: January 31, 2023 | 11:24 am | Posted in: University News

A chemical engineer developing more environmentally friendly materials and a geologist exploring the chemistry of Earth’s carbon reservoirs are the latest Florida State University faculty members to be named Fellows by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, or AAAS. Rufina Alamo, the Simon Ostrach Professor of Engineering and a distinguished research professor of […]

FSU climate scientists receive Department of Energy funding to study greenhouse gas emissions from peatlands

Published: January 19, 2023 | 11:04 am | Posted in: Announcements, Science & Technology, University News

The Spruce and Peatland Responses Under Changing Environments, or SPRUCE, project uses a series of enclosures to expose peatland plots to elevated carbon dioxide and temperatures. Florida State University researchers will conduct research using data from the SPRUCE site as part of a U.S. Department of Energy project. (Misha Krassovski/Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy)

Peatlands store a significant amount of the Earth’s carbon and have functioned as an important moderator of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere for thousands of years. But as peatlands are lost to overextraction and affected by a warmer climate, the impact on these natural carbon scrubbers remains unclear. A team of researchers from Florida State […]

Research reveals new insights into how Earth’s orbit influences seasonal cycles

Published: December 20, 2022 | 4:17 pm | Posted in: Science & Technology

Researchers have long been aware of the varying distance between Earth and the sun because of Earth’s elliptical orbit, but new research published in Nature coauthored by a Florida State University atmospheric scientist is shedding light for the first time on how this phenomenon impacts annual temperature cycles in the tropics. Alyssa Atwood, an assistant […]

FSU geologist available to comment on Mauna Loa eruption

Published: December 2, 2022 | 11:55 am | Posted in: Expert Pitches

The Hawaiian volcano Mauna Loa, the largest active volcano on the planet, is erupting for the first time since 1984. Vincent Salters, director of the Geochemistry Program at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory at Florida State University, is available to speak to media about the geology behind this eruption. Vincent Salters, professor in the […]

FSU researchers find decrease in crucial trace element preceded ancient mass extinction

Published: November 22, 2022 | 11:31 am | Posted in: Science & Technology

The research group collecting samples. (Photo by Ben Gill)

A decline in the element molybdenum across the planet’s oceans preceded a significant extinction event approximately 183 million years ago, new research from Florida State University shows. The decrease may have contributed to the mass extinction, in which up to 90% of species in the oceans perished, and it suggests that much more organic carbon […]

FSU researchers: Rapid fluctuations in oxygen levels coincided with Earth’s first mass extinction

Published: November 18, 2022 | 2:42 pm | Posted in: Science & Technology

Nevin Kozik during fieldwork to investigate how rapid changes in marine oxygen levels may have played a significant role in driving Earth’s first mass extinction. (Courtesy of Nevin Kozik)

Rapid changes in marine oxygen levels may have played a significant role in driving Earth’s first mass extinction, according to a new study led by Florida State University researchers. About 443 million years ago, life on Earth was undergoing the Late Ordovician mass extinction, or LOME, which eliminated about 85% of marine species. Scientists have […]

FSU assistant professor earns early career award from Geological Society of America

Published: October 13, 2022 | 11:57 am | Posted in: Science & Technology

When Florida State University Assistant Professor Richard Bono was deciding what part of geology to focus on, he learned about the field of geophysics and geodynamics — the science of how the Earth changes over time. “I knew that was something I could keep coming back to,” Bono said. “It’s like a puzzle that changes […]

Mystery in the Gulf: FSU researcher leads team to study conditions for plant survival in ocean desert

Published: August 1, 2022 | 5:03 pm | Posted in: Science & Technology

West of St. Petersburg in the Gulf of Mexico is an area called the West Florida Shelf. It’s a marine desert, cut off from many of the elements that are essential for life. But in this nutrient-deficient region, some forms of phytoplankton — microscopic plants that float through the water — are thriving and supporting […]

Fertility of the sea: FSU researchers study how nutrient sources make it to the base of the food web

Published: July 21, 2022 | 1:19 pm | Posted in: Science & Technology

Angela Knapp is an associate professor in the Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science.

Virtually all marine life — fish, turtles, sharks, whales and more — depend on the marine food web for survival. The foundation of this immense flow of energy, however, rests on the shoulders of the microscopic, but mighty, phytoplankton. Without vital nutrients such as phosphorus, the growth of these tiny floating ocean plants is limited, […]

Search FSU

Department of Earth Ocean and Atmospheric Science

Sidebar