{"title":"Predicting Long-Term Trajectories of Coastal Marshes: Processes, Models, and Uncertainty.","authors":"Giulio Mariotti, Neil Kamal Ganju","doi":"10.1146/annurev-marine-040224-120423","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-marine-040224-120423","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Coastal marshes are ecologically and geomorphologically important environments that are increasingly threatened by climate change and human activities. Anticipating their long-term (decadal to centennial) trajectory is critical for assessing vulnerability and informing restoration strategies. A wide range of process-based models have been developed to represent marsh morphodynamics across spatial scales and levels of complexity, yet persistent challenges remain in translating field observations-such as suspended sediment concentration, settling velocity, and sediment porosity-into effective long-term model parameters. As a result, these models are often more successful at elucidating general mechanisms and feedback than at making site-specific predictions. Data-driven approaches, in contrast, are commonly used to assess marsh drowning and vulnerability at specific locations but typically neglect key feedback associated with evolving landscape geometry and sediment mass conservation. Tracking sediment mass trajectories under different forcing scenarios would facilitate comparison across models and support the transfer of insight between physics-based, exploratory, and data-driven models. In addition, as marsh trajectories are increasingly shaped by restoration and sediment management practices, future outcomes will depend not only on natural processes but also on resource management decisions. Here, we review fundamental considerations and various approaches to modeling marsh trajectory and highlight recent advances and research gaps.</p>","PeriodicalId":55508,"journal":{"name":"Annual Review of Marine Science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":22.5,"publicationDate":"2026-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148842311","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Daniel Aslanian, Romain Pellen, Marina Rabineau, Maryline Moulin, Estelle Leroux, Eva Thicot, Antoine Delaunay, Guillaume Baby, Simon Courgeon, Bastien Linol, Jean-Pierre Suc, Speranta-Maria Popescu, Séverine Fauquette, Paul P A Mazza, Sébastien Couette, Massimiliano Delpero, Thierry Huck, Pierrick Penven, Théo Le Hir, Yurui Zhang
{"title":"Mammals' Insular Dispersal on Madagascar: Land Bridges and Rafting Theories, a Counterpoint Review.","authors":"Daniel Aslanian, Romain Pellen, Marina Rabineau, Maryline Moulin, Estelle Leroux, Eva Thicot, Antoine Delaunay, Guillaume Baby, Simon Courgeon, Bastien Linol, Jean-Pierre Suc, Speranta-Maria Popescu, Séverine Fauquette, Paul P A Mazza, Sébastien Couette, Massimiliano Delpero, Thierry Huck, Pierrick Penven, Théo Le Hir, Yurui Zhang","doi":"10.1146/annurev-marine-051325-104200","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-marine-051325-104200","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Insular faunas and fossil assemblages result from a complex interaction of geodynamical (geological, climatic, and eustatic) and biological, taphonomic, and historical processes. The debate should not be framed as a contest between biology and geodynamics but rather as an effort to reconcile the two. Geodynamic reconstructions must remain independent of biological assumptions, yet they must also be consistent with biological evidence. If faunal dispersal patterns appear to contradict existing geological models to the extent that they require improbable explanations, then the fault likely lies in the geological reconstructions, which should be revisited. We present here how recent geophysical and geological data completely reshape our view of the geodynamic evolution of the Mozambique Channel and provide geodynamic and paleo-biogeographical coherence, leading to more robust and coherent reconstructions of Earth's past.</p>","PeriodicalId":55508,"journal":{"name":"Annual Review of Marine Science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":22.5,"publicationDate":"2026-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148842325","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Beyond an Ocean of Chlorophyll: The Role of Proteorhodopsin Phototrophy in Plankton Ecology.","authors":"Laura Gómez-Consarnau, Laura Steindler","doi":"10.1146/annurev-marine-040224-025154","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-marine-040224-025154","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Until the early 2000s, light-driven energy capture in the ocean was viewed almost exclusively through the lens of chlorophyll-based photosynthesis. The discovery of proteorhodopsins (PRs) in marine bacterioplankton fundamentally expanded this paradigm, revealing that the surface ocean is also inhabited by photoheterotrophs that exploit sunlight using simple retinal-bound proton pumps. Over the past 25 years, multiomic and physiological studies have shown that PRs are widespread across marine microorganisms, especially in prokaryotes. Analyzing global ocean metatranscriptomes, we find that PR genes consistently rank among the most highly expressed functions in situ, often rivaling genes for core metabolic processes. The combined evidence suggests that PR-driven phototrophy enables cells to pay essential energetic tolls to maintain membrane potential, enhance substrate uptake and utilization, and sustain motility during carbon scarcity. Spectral tuning and carotenoid antennae further adapt PRs to distinct light niches across productivity gradients. By supporting heterotrophic metabolism across ocean regimes, PR phototrophy likely influences dissolved organic matter processing, underscoring the need to integrate light-driven heterotrophy into marine carbon cycle models.</p>","PeriodicalId":55508,"journal":{"name":"Annual Review of Marine Science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":22.5,"publicationDate":"2026-08-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148842297","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Decoding the Deep: The Ecology, Biogeography, and Evolution of Deep-Sea Viruses.","authors":"Marguerite V Langwig, Karthik Anantharaman","doi":"10.1146/annurev-marine-050625-093011","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-marine-050625-093011","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Viruses dominate the deep-ocean biosphere (>200-m depth) yet remain profoundly understudied. As the most abundant biological entities on Earth, they govern the geochemistry, evolution, and ecology of deep-sea prokaryotic and eukaryotic communities across a vast array of deep-sea biomes. The last two decades have witnessed revolutionary advances in deep-sea sampling, sequencing, and computational biology, illuminating viral diversity and function across Earth's largest active biome. Here, we synthesize emerging patterns in deep-sea viral ecology, biogeography, and evolutionary dynamics while identifying critical knowledge gaps and opportunities. This review is pertinent in the face of deep-sea mining and climate change, which threaten to fundamentally alter these ecosystems and cascade through virus-host networks in ways we cannot yet predict. Understanding viral control of deep-sea biogeochemistry and resistance to environmental perturbation is essential for predicting ecosystem resilience in the face of anthropogenic pressures and informing policy on one of Earth's final frontiers.</p>","PeriodicalId":55508,"journal":{"name":"Annual Review of Marine Science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":22.5,"publicationDate":"2026-08-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148761751","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sandra Kirtland Turner, Pam Vervoort, Sarah E Greene
{"title":"From Clocks to Triggers? Orbital Forcing and the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum.","authors":"Sandra Kirtland Turner, Pam Vervoort, Sarah E Greene","doi":"10.1146/annurev-marine-040224-033334","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-marine-040224-033334","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The ancient global warming event known as the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM, ∼56 Ma) provides an excellent case study for understanding the integrated Earth system response to massive carbon release. To evaluate its utility as a future analog, there is a need for accurate estimates not only for the durations of different phases, such as the onset duration, period of carbon release, and recovery timescale, but also for constraints on the source(s) of carbon. While the PETM corresponds to an interval of increased volcanic activity, the degree to which it was shaped by strong positive feedbacks may be particularly revealing about the sensitivity of the surficial carbon cycle to rapid warming. Studying the role of orbital forcing across the PETM has been essential to unlocking each of these key unknowns. Here, we review the study of orbital forcing in relation to the PETM, both in the application of cyclostratigraphy to constrain the duration and timing of the PETM and in the potential role of orbital forcing as a trigger or contributor for carbon release. We subsequently use new numerical simulations to evaluate feedback between PETM carbon release and orbital forcing.</p>","PeriodicalId":55508,"journal":{"name":"Annual Review of Marine Science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":22.5,"publicationDate":"2026-08-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148763882","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Turbulence to the AMOC: Changes in the North Atlantic.","authors":"Eleanor Frajka-Williams","doi":"10.1146/annurev-marine-040425-021556","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-marine-040425-021556","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Ocean variability spans a wide range of scales, from centimeters to thousands of kilometers and from seconds to millennia. Turbulence and mixing occupy the smallest scales, with the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) at the largest scales. However, small-scale processes can also affect the large-scale circulation. Past reviews have considered how mixing sets or affects the mean and structure of the AMOC. This review considers how mixing may affect the time variability of the AMOC. It first defines the AMOC, then discusses drivers of variability and how they are manifested in the observed overturning at the RAPID 26°N and Overturning in the Subpolar North Atlantic Program (OSNAP) arrays. It then considers how diabatic processes can change the large-scale overturning circulation.</p>","PeriodicalId":55508,"journal":{"name":"Annual Review of Marine Science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":22.5,"publicationDate":"2026-07-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148610506","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Oscar Schofield, Scott C Doney, Heidi Dierssen, Quintin P Diou-Cass, Matthew J Oliver, Sharon E Stammerjohn, Jessica S Turner, Michael P Meredith
{"title":"From White to Green to Blue? Trajectories of Phytoplankton Communities in a Warming Southern Ocean.","authors":"Oscar Schofield, Scott C Doney, Heidi Dierssen, Quintin P Diou-Cass, Matthew J Oliver, Sharon E Stammerjohn, Jessica S Turner, Michael P Meredith","doi":"10.1146/annurev-marine-040725-022001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-marine-040725-022001","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The Southern Ocean is experiencing warming, melting of ice, and increasing wind. Predictions of increasing phytoplankton biomass associated with warming and declining glacial and sea ice are supported by observations. As wind intensity continues to increase and glacial and sea ice decline, however, the long-term projections indicate that phytoplankton biomass will decline. The transition will vary geographically around the Southern Ocean depending on the base state of the system and rate of climate change. The initial increase in phytoplankton biomass will be driven by diatoms and <i>Phaeocystis</i>. The stratification-driven increases in phytoplankton biomass will plateau, accompanied by shifts in community composition with the increased prominence of cryptophytes and decreased phytoplankton size distributions. Over the next several decades, climate projections indicate continued declines in ice coupled with increasing winds, with the resulting deeper mixed layers leading to declines in diatoms and cryptophytes and the dominance of mixed flagellates. Over the long term (decades to a century), winds will continually deepen the upper-ocean mixed-layer depth, the importance of picoplankton will increase, and biomass will decline. These changes will profoundly impact Southern Ocean ecology and biogeochemistry.</p>","PeriodicalId":55508,"journal":{"name":"Annual Review of Marine Science","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":22.5,"publicationDate":"2026-07-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148610475","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Lionel Renault,Jacob O Wenegrat,Hyodae Seo,Patrick Marchesiello
{"title":"The Energetics of Fine-Scale Air-Sea Interactions.","authors":"Lionel Renault,Jacob O Wenegrat,Hyodae Seo,Patrick Marchesiello","doi":"10.1146/annurev-marine-040425-024449","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-marine-040425-024449","url":null,"abstract":"The Earth's oceanic energy cycle is a multiscale system governed by the complex interactions of oceanic, atmospheric, and wave processes. Significant progress has been made in understanding energy exchange at planetary scales. However, challenges remain at the mesoscale and submesoscale levels. Processes such as mesoscale eddies, submesoscale flows, and internal waves drive intricate energy transfers at these scales. These fine-scale interactions influence the oceanic energy budget through two primary feedback mechanisms: thermal feedback and current feedback. Thermal feedback mainly depletes oceanic potential energy, while current feedback induces a sink of kinetic energy, influencing the kinetic energy pathway. Despite recent advancements, the full impacts of these interactions on the ocean, atmosphere, and climate remain poorly understood. This review synthesizes the current understanding of fine-scale air-sea energetics and their associated effects on the ocean, atmosphere, and climate. It also explores the contributions of submesoscale and high-frequency processes and highlights research gaps. We discuss missing pieces of knowledge, particularly regarding wind-wave effects. Finally, we propose future research directions, emphasizing the need for new observational platforms and next-generation modeling frameworks to capture these interactions and their impact on global climate dynamics.","PeriodicalId":55508,"journal":{"name":"Annual Review of Marine Science","volume":"46 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":17.3,"publicationDate":"2026-07-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148415805","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Stoichiometric, Isotopic, and Modeling Tracers of Marine Autotrophic Dissolved Organic Nutrient Production and Consumption.","authors":"Angela N Knapp,Robert T Letscher,Zhou Liang","doi":"10.1146/annurev-marine-040124-124534","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-marine-040124-124534","url":null,"abstract":"Dissolved organic N (DON) and dissolved organic P (DOP) represent the largest pools of bioavailable N and P in oligotrophic surface waters. While both serve as assimilative nutrient sources for autotrophs when inorganic forms of N and P are scarce, the location and quantitative significance of their utilization remain unclear. Here, we review new geochemical metrics and modeling tools that link surface-ocean DON and DOP to basin-scale biogeochemical processes and identify their source and sink regions. We find that surface-ocean dissolved organic nutrients are influenced by both phosphate and iron stress, as well as denitrification in the Pacific and atmospheric dust deposition in the Atlantic, and support up to 66% and 80% of annual net community production in the western North Pacific and North Atlantic gyres, respectively. Collectively, this work refines our understanding of the role of organic nutrients in supporting the biological pump and the controls on upper-ocean nutrient cycling.","PeriodicalId":55508,"journal":{"name":"Annual Review of Marine Science","volume":"195 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":17.3,"publicationDate":"2026-06-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148322556","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Marcel Babin, Jody W Deming, Eric Maréchal, Josephine Z Rapp, Søren Rysgaard, Martin Vancoppenolle
{"title":"Life in the Frozen Ocean.","authors":"Marcel Babin, Jody W Deming, Eric Maréchal, Josephine Z Rapp, Søren Rysgaard, Martin Vancoppenolle","doi":"10.1146/annurev-marine-032123-025316","DOIUrl":"10.1146/annurev-marine-032123-025316","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Present seasonally or year-round in polar and subpolar seas, sea ice is one of the most complex and biologically rich ecosystems on Earth. Throughout the history of our planet, sea ice has periodically covered vast proportions of the world's oceans, and it may also serve as a plausible habitat on other ocean worlds. In this review, we provide a comprehensive overview of current knowledge on sea ice as a habitat, both on Earth and in extraterrestrial environments. We focus on bacteria, microalgae, and their associated viruses, describing the key physicochemical characteristics that shape this unique ecosystem. Additionally, we explore hypotheses on how microorganisms colonize sea ice, survive by protecting themselves and altering their environment, and ultimately proliferate and evolve. Finally, we consider the potential role of the sea-ice microbiome in the evolution of life on Earth and its possible existence beyond our planet.</p>","PeriodicalId":55508,"journal":{"name":"Annual Review of Marine Science","volume":" ","pages":"275-299"},"PeriodicalIF":22.5,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144735542","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}