Ocean science news, explainers, and statistics covering marine environments, currents, climate, coasts, seafloor research, and the changing global ocean.
A coastline can make a stretch of salt water look like a separate world. A bay narrows toward a harbor as waves meet the beach beneath a familiar name on the map. Far offshore, the water seems to become an ocean. Geography uses a useful pattern for that change, while natural coastlines seldom supply a…
More
Sunlight enters the sea as a broad mix of colors, then water begins sorting that light along its path. In clear water, the red end of the spectrum fades rapidly. Blue light remains available over a longer distance, so light returning from the water to an observer often carries a blue cast. Selective absorption gives…
From a beach, the sea horizon often looks like a clean line drawn across the world. Its distance is much shorter than the view suggests. For an adult whose eyes are about 1.5 meters above calm water, the geometric horizon is roughly 4.4 kilometers away. A higher deck, cliff, or mast extends that line of…
Evaporation is the engine behind the Persian Gulf’s remarkable saltiness. Sun and dry air remove water from the sea surface, yet leave dissolved salts behind. The remaining water becomes denser and gradually sinks. A narrow outlet, the Strait of Hormuz, then helps the Gulf replace the lost water while sending some of its dense, salty…
