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#WeekendReading: Clara Blättler on the strengths and limitations of reconstructing #seawater major-ion reconstructions through the #Phanerozoic from fluid inclusions in #salt.

Link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012825225001035

Phanerozoic seawater reconstructions using the HL method (Brennan et al., 2013) (with an exception for Carboniferous evaporite units where a different potassium concentration was used, following Holt et al. (2014)); size of circles indicates number of individual fluid inclusion analyses used in the formation- or basin-wide average. A) Molar Mg/Ca ratios. Horizontal dashed line marks the approximate threshold between a switch in mineralogy of inorganic marine carbonate precipitates (aragonite and high-Mg calcite favored at Mg/Ca
2; low-Mg calcite favored at Mg/Ca
2; Stanley and Hardie (1998)). B) Calcium and sulfate concentrations, with error bars indicating range permitted by varying the ion product of calcium
sulfate from 150 to 450 mmolal2. C) Magnesium concentrations (note differences compared to Mg/Ca trend in panel A). D) Sodium concentrations, driven by the charge balance requirement of the HL method.

Loss of sea ice alters the colors of light in the ocean

The disappearance of sea ice in polar regions due to #GlobalWarming not only increases the amount of light entering the #ocean, but also changes its #color. These changes have far-reaching consequences for #photosynthetic organisms such as ice #algae and #phytoplankton.

That is the conclusion of new research published in Nature Communications, led by marine biologists Monika Soja-Woźniak and Jef Huisman from the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED) at the University of Amsterdam.

The international research team, which also included physical chemist Sander Woutersen (HIMS/UvA) and collaborators from the #Netherlands and #Denmark, investigated how the loss of #SeaIce alters the underwater light #environment. Sea ice and #seawater differ fundamentally in how they transmit light. Sea ice strongly scatters light and reflects much of it, while allowing only a small amount to penetrate.

Yet, this limited amount of light still contains almost the full range of visible wavelengths. In contrast, seawater absorbs red and green light, while blue light penetrates deep into the water column. This is what gives the ocean its blue color.

https://phys.org/news/2025-05-loss-sea-ice-ocean.html

Why is #SeaWater Saline?

Fujifilm XE2 • Sigma 30mm

#lighthouse #pier #sea #seaview #boat #breakwater #summer #2024 #seawater #nature #naturephotography #sky #clouds #fujifilm #xe2 #fuji #sigma #estonia

From the Topsy-Turvy #Terrace of Temporal #Tumbleweeds The #Poobah says “#Stan once built a #pergola on the #beach, convinced it would #shade the entire #sea. #Ollie, wiping #seawater from his #bowler, muttered, ‘Well, that’s another fine ______ you’ve gotten us into.’ Moments later, #Poseidon popped by to complain about the lack of #sun #loungers.”

#QOTD #QuoteOfTheDay #PoobahSay #Poobahian #Laurel #Hardy #LaurelHardy #1920s #Meme #Memes #CryptoMemes #MemeCoins poobah.me

The search for green hydrogen from direct seawater electrolysis continues.

https://cleantechnica.com/2025/04/13/solving-green-hydrogens-water-woes-with-seawater/

#greenhydrogen #hydrogen #seawater #cleanenergy #hydrogeneconomy #h2 #greenfuture #gogreen #greenelectricity #solar #solarenergy #solarpower #floatingsolar

The search for green hydrogen from direct seawater electrolysis continues.

https://cleantechnica.com/2025/04/13/solving-green-hydrogens-water-woes-with-seawater/

#greenhydrogen #hydrogen #seawater #cleanenergy #hydrogeneconomy #h2 #greenfuture #gogreen #greenelectricity #solar #solarenergy #solarpower #floatingsolar

#WeekendReading: Cole et al., on the weird and strange relationships between Mg/Ca ratio in #seawater and echinoderm #evolution.
https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/article/51/12/1091/628095/Calcite-aragonite-seas-as-a-driver-of-echinoderm

Warning: study includes and describes animal experimentation.

Experimental design and results of ophiuroid (Ophioderma cinerum) regeneration experiments. (A) Schematic of the experimental setup, timeline, and data collection. (B) Regenerated arm growth as a function of time for each seawater Mg/Ca treatment; solid points represent mean regenerated arm length for treatments, crosses are measurements for all specimens. (C) Bar plot of estimated β coefficients from a linear regression analysis of arm growth through time, revealing that all treatments have statistically different growth rates; error bars represent 95% confidence intervals.

Seawater is an electrolyte, that is why we can use cathodic protection for metals we submerge in it. But it also means we can make #batteries with seawater... assuming we can overcome the many, many complications related to the complex ionic mix that is #seawater.
https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2020/ee/d0ee01617a

A schematic illustration of the basic structure and operating mechanism of a rechargeable metal–air battery using a seawater-based electrolyte, accompanied by the relevant application values.

'Looking at you!' - eine Garnele beobachtet die Kamera - und umgekehrt.
#shrimp #Seawater #wildlife #underwater #MuellersKabinett #arachnoid #photo

closeup picture of a red shrimp living in a seawater aquarium. It is very close to the camera and seems to fixate the viewer closely with one of it's facette-eyes

The #uber #niche #market of shaving products specially made for use with #SeaWater... 🤩

🚨 We have a new paper!
Led by Maxim Rubin-Blum, we show the role #burrows and burrowing #animals have on in cold seeps.
Burrowing doesn't just mix sediment, it opens conduits that connect #seawater rich in NOx and sulfate to a subsurface domain rich in organic matter but poor in oxidizers. Fueling biological reactions and interacting as well as, potentially, things like diagenetic calcification.
https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/22/1321/2025/

Cartoon illustration showing how burrows serve as conduits of enhancing connectivity between the subsurface chemotrophic domain and the overlaying water.

Warm Seawater Encroaches On Major Antarctic Ice Shelf, Raising Sea Level Concerns
--
https://phys.org/news/2025-01-seawater-encroaches-major-antarctic-ice.html <-- shared technical article
--
https://doi.org/10.1029/2023JC020700 <-- shared paper
--
#GIS #spatial #mapping #climatechange #Antarctic #Antarctica #icesheet #warmwater #oceancurrents #ocean #marine #iceshelves #WeddellSea #FilchnerRonneIceShelf #basal #melt #melting #rates #model #modeling #continentalshelf #spatiotemporal #observation #icecover #freshwater #global #sealevel #climatemodels #water #temperature #velocity #seawater #FilchnerTrough #spatialanalysis #oceandynamics

photo - view from a ship of part of the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf, Antarctica

maps and chart - Spatial map of southern Weddell Sea with summer (DJF) climatology and anomalies for sea ice concentration (SIC; a–d), zonal wind (e–h), and ocean surface stress curl (i–l).

Overview map of the Filchner Trough region in the eastern part of the southern continental shelf in the Weddell Sea. The bathymetry is from IBCSO (Arndt et al., 2013) with marked contours every 100 m. Grounded ice is shaded dark gray and floating ice shelves are light gray. Mooring locations are marked with colored circles, historic CTD casts with gray dots, and the deployment location of the APEX floats as diamonds. Red and blue arrows are a sketch of the circulation of relevant water masses, mWDW and ISW, respectively. The inset in the upper left shows the location of the study site.

maps and charts:
(a) Velocities from the moorings averaged within 0.1°C temperature bins
(b) Temperature (according to colorbar) along the float trajectories of Fst (brown diamond, through the Small Trough), Fsill (green diamond, along the eastern flank), and Fcs (purple diamond, within the Filchner Trough) at their parking depths of 400, 400, and 250 metres, respectively.
(histograms) temperature bins within the temperature ranges of ISW and mWDW.

future tech: spinning fabric from seawater

#FutureFabric #Seawater #Flowing #Seascape #Innovative #Ethereal #White #Blue #Waves
#Img2img #AiArt #AiArtists #AiArtCommunity #StableDiffusion

in real life: https://aieris.art/featured/future-tech-spinning-fabric-from-seawater-eris-and-ai.html

Futuristic but natural looking technology, featuring delicate poles draped with gossamer white fabric, extending from shallow waves, by a sandy beach among some rocks, evoking innovative fabric production from seawater, against a moody sky.

The Physics of Cold Water May Have Jump-Started Complex #Life
When #seawater gets cold, it gets viscous. This fact could explain how single-celled #ocean creatures became multicellular when the planet was frozen during “#SnowballEarth,” according to experiments.
The prevailing scientific view is that such frigid temperatures would slow rather than speed evolution. But fossil records from 720 to 635MYA show an #evolutionary spurt preceding the development of #animals.
https://www.quantamagazine.org/the-physics-of-cold-water-may-have-jump-started-complex-life-20240724/

How can fresh #water be obtained from #seawater without conventional #desalination? Professor Sebastian Seiffert and his team at #MainzUniversity have developed a promising approach: HydroDeSal uses a hydrogel that reacts to changes in temperature. It draws water from the sea when its cooler and releases drinking water when temperatures rise. The application is now to be made ready for the market.

#Chemistry #SustainableChemistry

Professor Sebastian Seiffert (left) and Dr. Amir Jangizehi are examining a sample in the lab at JGU. (photo/©: Peter Thomas / JGU)

#Solar-powered #desalination
A new system could make #brackish #groundwater drinkable at low cost in communities where #seawater and grid power are limited. The system is a variation of a previous design based on #electrodialysis, which uses an electric field to draw out salt ions as #water is pumped through a stack of ion-exchange membranes.
https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/12/23/1107395/solar-powered-desalination-2/