Biodiversity: The Key to Productivity
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Published: 11 May 2011
A global study co-led by Scripps scientist Octavio Aburto-Oropeza finds biodiversity boosts reef productivity without limits. Protected areas like Cabo Pulmo show fivefold fish biomass recovery, proving conservation makes ecological and economic sense.
Keywords: Oceanography, Octavio Aburto-Oropeza, marine reserves, Cabo Pulmo, global reef study
Research Highlight: Extremophiles Unite!
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Published: 13 June 2011
Scripps geologist Hubert Staudigel leads research in Antarctica’s dry valleys, testing how extremophile microbes survive by oxidizing volcanic glass—offering clues to Earth’s earliest life and life in extreme environments like volcanoes.
Keywords: Hubert Staudigel, volcanic glass, early Earth, chemolithotrophs, Mount Erebus, McMurdo Sound, microbial life
Scripps Researchers Discover New Force Driving Earth's Tectonic Plates
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Published: 6 July 2011
Scripps scientists discovered mantle plumes as a new force driving plate tectonics, influencing Indian and African plate motions. Their study links a plume beneath India 70 million years ago to rapid plate shifts and massive volcanic activity.
Keywords: Scripps Oceanography, Indian plate, Deccan Traps, Réunion hotspot, geophysics
