Category
Ocean Science
Explore the 6 entries currently assigned to this category. These counts describe this curated catalogue, not the size or rate of change of the field itself.
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Not a fact anymore
Reported rogue waves are physically impossible exaggerations by sailors.
What we know now
Rogue waves are real, rare ocean waves that are much larger than the surrounding sea state. They can arise through nonlinear interactions, current focusing, directional effects, and ordinary statistical extremes.
- Status
- Overturned
- Category
- Ocean Science
- Accepted for
- ≈45 years
- Changed approximately
- 1995–2000s
Not a fact anymore
Food webs were expected to depend ultimately on photosynthetic primary production powered by sunlight.
What we know now
Some ecosystems do not begin with sunlight. Certain microorganisms can make organic matter using energy released by chemical reactions rather than photosynthesis. This process, called chemosynthesis, can support entire food webs in dark environments such as deep-sea hydrothermal vents.
- Status
- Overturned
- Category
- Ocean Science
- Accepted for
- Not quantified
- Changed approximately
- 1977–early 1980s
Not a fact anymore
Water in the deep ocean is stagnant and largely isolated from global circulation.
What we know now
The deep ocean participates in slow, global circulation driven by density differences, winds, mixing, and interactions with the seafloor and atmosphere.
- Status
- Overturned
- Category
- Ocean Science
- Accepted for
- ≈107 years
- Changed approximately
- 19th–20th centuries
Not a fact anymore
The deep-ocean floor is mostly flat and featureless.
What we know now
The seafloor contains enormous mountain ranges, deep trenches, volcanic ridges, seamounts, fracture zones, canyons, and broad abyssal plains.
- Status
- Overturned
- Category
- Ocean Science
- Accepted for
- ≈205 years
- Changed approximately
- 19th century–1950s
Not a fact anymore
The deep ocean below roughly 300 fathoms (549 meters, 1800 feet) is lifeless.
What we know now
Animals and microorganisms inhabit the ocean at depths far beyond 300 fathoms (549m, 1800ft) including the deepest trenches. Deep-sea ecosystems can be supported by sinking organic matter, chemosynthesis and other energy pathways.
- Status
- Overturned
- Category
- Ocean Science
- Accepted for
- ≈27 years
- Changed approximately
- 1868–1870s
Not a fact anymore
A coral reef is a solid mass of living coral.
What we know now
Only a thin outer layer of a coral colony is living tissue. Reef frameworks contain accumulated calcium-carbonate skeletons, dead coral, sediments, algae, sponges, microbes, and many other organisms.
- Status
- Corrected
- Category
- Ocean Science
- Accepted for
- ≈42 years
- Changed approximately
- 19th–20th centuries
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