Digging for Time Capsules
Penn State geoscientists are participating in seafloor drilling expeditions aimed at recovering geologic records of ancient climate variations, dramatic changes in biodiversity, and rapid changes in the circulation and chemistry of the ocean.
Acoustics: Communicating Below the Surface
How do blue whales talk to each other? How do deep-sea vehicles send data to a ship at the surface? Researchers in the Acoustics Program and in the Applied Research Laboratory at Penn State study how sound waves—emitted by mammals and man-made equipment—travel through ocean water.
Deep-Sea Ecosystems: From Mantle to Microbes
Enter the ocean in a submersible vehicle to explore deep-sea ecosystems linked to the flow of the material from the Earth’s mantle. Several universities and research institutions participate in Ridge 2000, which is funded by the National Science Foundation and based in the Department of Biology at Penn State.
Giant tube worms are marine invertebrates related to tubeworms commonly found in the intertidal and pelagic zones. These giants live over a mile deep on the floor of the Pacific Ocean near black smokers and can tolerate extremely high temperatures and sulfur levels.