Ocean
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Find out everything there is to know about the ocean and stay updated on the latest oceanic news with the comprehensive articles, interactive features and beautiful images of the ocean at LiveScience.com. Learn more about the Earth's oceans as scientists continue to make amazing discoveries about our largest bodies of water.
Latest about Rivers & Oceans
![A satellite photo of dark water flowing into the ocean from an estaury](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/m69gwLzwhzujFNMmw3NnJ4-320-80.jpg)
'River of tea' bleeds into sea after Hurricane Sally smashes into US coast
By Harry Baker published
Earth from space A 2020 satellite photo shows "blackwater" flowing from South Carolina's Winyah Bay after Hurricane Sally made landfall and triggered flash flooding.
![A picture of the seafloor off the eastern U.S. coast covered in metallic nodules rich in manganese.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/8Rs9jqep6rjpHtS7zP6CdB-320-80.jpg)
Discovery of 'dark oxygen' from deep-sea metal lumps could trigger rethink of origins of life
By Sascha Pare published
In a global first, scientists working in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone in the North Pacific Ocean have found that metallic nodules on the seafloor produce their own oxygen, dubbed "dark oxygen."
![A deep sea hydrothermal vents appears to shimmer as it bubbles out hot water](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/hELndrPjRfXxWuecQka4Sn-320-80.jpg)
'Dragon' and 'tree of life' hydrothermal vents discovered in Arctic region scientists thought was geologically dead
By Harry Baker published
Researchers have discovered a deep-sea hydrothermal vent field near Svalbard in an area previously assumed to be geologically inactive. The newfound vents have been named after various entities from Norse mythology.
![An underwater image of the brine pool with steep walls covered in yellow mineral flows.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/MjHqVmgtdDbsLJU4fuxcYQ-320-80.jpg)
Hot Tub of Despair: The deadly ocean pool that traps and pickles creatures that fall in
By Sascha Pare published
This stagnant brine pool at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico is so toxic it kills and embalms any crabs and amphipods that are unlucky enough to stumble into it.
![A branched orange river winding through lemon-shaped mangrove islands](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/6ardkGJjkj4PDNLqYmpJEc-320-80.jpg)
Earth from space: Shapeshifting rusty river winds through Madagascar's 'red lands'
By Harry Baker published
This 2018 astronaut photo shows the rust-colored waters of Madagascar's Betsiboka River winding through a complex series of mangrove islands. Both the river and islands have been altered in recent years by destructive human practices.
![A massive green swirl of algae in the sea](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/ijxuNSaTxBWoLVb5uCws4G-320-80.jpg)
Earth from space: Ethereal algal vortex blooms at the heart of massive Baltic 'dead zone'
By Harry Baker published
In 2018, satellite images captured a stunning spiral of cyanobacteria blooming in the Baltic Sea. The swirling mass of microbes helped to create a massive "dead zone" the size of West Virginia that starved the surrounding water of oxygen.
![A milky orange river viewed from directly above](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/t6v68RXHQWsaGSsVGyEDdA-320-80.jpg)
Alaska's rivers are turning bright orange and as acidic as vinegar as toxic metal escapes from melting permafrost
By Harry Baker published
Alaska's melting permafrost is dumping toxic metals into the state's rivers, turning them bright orange and making the water highly acidic. The contaminated rivers are so vibrant they can be seen from space, and the problem is likely to get much worse in the future.
![A visualization from space of the Gulf Stream as it unfurls across the North Atlantic Ocean. The current is colored according to sea surface temperature.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/oPxkgyqzwPTyKW97sEJUJJ-320-80.jpg)
The Gulf Stream stopped pumping nutrients during the last ice age — and the same could be happening now
By Sascha Pare published
Atlantic currents slowed dramatically during the Younger Dryas period. By reconstructing those ancient ocean conditions, scientists think they can forecast changes over the next century.
![A diagram showing the age of Earth's crust below the Atlantic Ocean.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/QHzAaBBbkvrqqLUe5vKdAX-320-80.png)
Sleeping subduction zone could awaken and form a new 'Ring of Fire' that swallows the Atlantic Ocean
By Sascha Pare published
A modeling study suggests a slumbering subduction zone below the Gibraltar Strait is active and could break into the Atlantic Ocean in 20 million years' time, giving birth to an Atlantic "Ring of Fire."
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