Research Catalog

Title

The brilliant abyss : exploring the majestic hidden life of the deep ocean and the looming threat that imperils it / Helen Scales.

Author

Scales, Helen

Publication

• New York : Atlantic Monthly Press, 2021.
• ©2021

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

xiv, 286 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : color illustrations; 24 cm

Summary

"The oceans have always shaped human lives," writes marine biologist Helen Scales in her vibrant new book The Brilliant Abyss, but the surface and the very edges have so far mattered the most. "However, one way or another, the future ocean is the deep ocean." A golden era of deep-sea discovery is underway. Revolutionary studies in the deep are rewriting the very notion of life on Earth and the rules of what is possible. In the process, the abyss is being revealed as perhaps the most amazing part of our planet, with a topography even more varied and extreme than its Earthbound counterpart. Teeming with unsuspected life, an extraordinary interconnected ecosystem deep below the waves has a huge effect on our daily lives, influencing climate and weather systems worldwide. Currently the fantastic creatures that live in the deep-many of them incandescent in a world without light-and its formations trap vast quantities of carbon that would otherwise poison our atmosphere; and novel bacteria as yet undiscovered hold the promise of potent new medicines. Yet the deep also contains huge mineral riches lusted after by many nations and corporations; mining them could ultimately devastate the planet, compounding the deepening impacts of ubiquitous pollutants and rampant overfishing. Eloquently and passionately, Helen Scales brings to life the majesty and mystery of an alien realm that nonetheless sustains us, while urgently making clear the price we could pay if it is further disrupted. The Brilliant Abyss is at once a revelation and a clarion call to preserve this vast unseen world"--

Subject

• Ocean
• Oceanography
• Marine ecology

Genre/Form

Instructional and educational works.

Note

• "Distributed by Publishers Group West"--Title page verso.
• Map on endpapers.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents

Prelude -- PART 1. EXPLORE. Here is the deep -- The whale and the worm -- Caught in a jelly web -- In a chemical world -- Highs and lows -- PART 2. DEPEND. Deep matters -- Deep cures -- PART 3. EXPLOIT. Fishing deep -- The eternal junkyard -- What\u0027s mine is yours -- PART 4. PRESERVE. Green vs blue -- A sanctuary in the deep -- Epilogue.

ISBN

• 9780802158222
• 0802158226
• 9780802158246 (canceled/invalid)

LCCN

• 2021025313
• 99989037452

OCLC

• on1255520862
• 1255520862

Owning Institutions

Columbia University Libraries