Climate plumbs the depths

The Lower Depths

Climate effect on food supply to depths greater than 4,000 meters in the northeast Pacific

A long time-series study was conducted over 15 yr (1989–2004) to measure particulate organic carbon (POC) flux as an estimate of food supply reaching .4,000-m depth in the northeast Pacific. Sequencing sediment traps were moored at 3,500-and 4,050-m depth, 600 and 50 m above the seafloor, respectively, to collect sinking particulate matter with 10-d resolution. POC fluxes were compared with thr...

Probing the depths

W scientists from HMS Challenger dredged animals from over 5km depth, they finally laid to rest the azoic hypothesis of Edward Forbes, that life could not exist in cold dark depths of the ocean, and thereby opened the doors to true deep-sea biology. The past decade has witnessed a further sea change in our view of marine diversity, if I may be permitted the pun, a change driven to a large exten...

Probing the depths

W scientists from HMS Challenger dredged animals from over 5km depth, they finally laid to rest the azoic hypothesis of Edward Forbes, that life could not exist in cold dark depths of the ocean, and thereby opened the doors to true deep-sea biology. The past decade has witnessed a further sea change in our view of marine diversity, if I may be permitted the pun, a change driven to a large exten...

Hidden Depths

The radiograph on this issue’s front cover demonstrates a normal image of the abdomen. It is a favourite of mine and one that I use routinely in teaching undergraduate medical students. Take a good look. You may notice a curvilinear gas density projected within the pelvis. See it? This is what a tampon looks like (figure 1). It’s a subtle finding, but once seen, the radiographic configuration i...