All research cruises are a lot of work. This one, for many of us, is especially taxing, with CTD casts and sampling of surface water at all hours of the day and night. We make good use of the time, money, and energy expended to do good science—but we also like to let our more […]

We have discussed phytoplankton quite a bit on this blog, from their part in marine snow creation to their potential reactions to ocean alkalinity enhancement. Their importance to the ocean—and the planet—is hard to overstate, and there are many aspects of their lives (and deaths) to explore. While our schedules have been chaotic this cruise, […]

The ocean has always been one of Earth’s best defences in the fight against anthropogenic climate change. It absorbs about 25% of the carbon dioxide (CO₂) we emit, acting as a giant sponge for greenhouse gases. This carbon sink comes at a cost—this extra CO2 is making the ocean more acidic, and ocean acidification limits […]

Carbon’s journey to the deep Just like their larger cousins, the terrestrial plants, phytoplankton convert atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) into organic carbon. If their tiny carbon-based bodies sink from the surface ocean to the deep sea and sediments, the CO2 is then removed from the atmosphere for hundreds to thousands of years. The remains of […]

For many people, radium brings to mind Marie Curie and her historic discoveries and the dangers they posed. But radium is found all around—in rocks, sediments, and water— in such small amounts it cannot harm us. Several isotopes of radium exist naturally in the environment. They decay at different rates, and scientists like Cátia Ehlert […]