Earth & The Planet
Why Is the Ocean Salty?
The ocean is salty because water dissolves ions from rocks and carries them to the sea, while seafloor reactions add or exchange more dissolved…
Oct 1, 2026 • 13 min readOUR LIVING PLANET
Oceans
Explore ocean circulation, seafloor processes and marine environments, including the tools used to investigate a largely submerged world.
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What Causes Ocean Waves?
Most everyday ocean waves form when wind transfers energy to the surface. Size depends mainly on wind speed, duration and fetch—the uninterrupted distance across water. Gravity restores the displaced surface, allowing energy to travel.…
Oct 4, 2026 • 13 min readRead the discovery →LATEST
Latest discoveries
New stories, explanations and research from Oceans.
Earth & The Planet
Why Is the Ocean Blue?
The ocean usually looks blue because water absorbs longer red, orange and yellow wavelengths more strongly while blue light penetrates farther and is scattered…
Sep 29, 2026 • 14 min read
Earth & The Planet
How Ocean Upwelling Feeds Some of Earth’s Richest Ecosystems
Coastal winds and Earth’s rotation can move surface water away from shore, allowing colder, nutrient-rich water to rise and fuel highly productive marine food…
Sep 28, 2026 • 12 min read
Earth & The Planet
What Causes Ocean Tides?
Ocean tides are long-period changes in sea level driven mainly by differences in the Moon’s gravitational pull across Earth, with an important contribution from…
Sep 25, 2026 • 14 min readWORTH KNOWING
Popular & evergreen
Earth & The Planet
Why Is the Ocean Salty?
The ocean is salty because water dissolves ions from rocks and carries them to the sea, while seafloor reactions add or exchange more dissolved…
Oct 1, 2026 • 13 min read
Earth & The Planet
Why Is the Ocean Blue?
The ocean usually looks blue because water absorbs longer red, orange and yellow wavelengths more strongly while blue light penetrates farther and is scattered…
Sep 29, 2026 • 14 min read
Earth & The Planet
How Ocean Upwelling Feeds Some of Earth’s Richest Ecosystems
Coastal winds and Earth’s rotation can move surface water away from shore, allowing colder, nutrient-rich water to rise and fuel highly productive marine food…
Sep 28, 2026 • 12 min read
Earth & The Planet
What Causes Ocean Tides?
Ocean tides are long-period changes in sea level driven mainly by differences in the Moon’s gravitational pull across Earth, with an important contribution from…
Sep 25, 2026 • 14 min read