Life Sciences Commons^™

Investigating Diel Periodicity In Export Flux In The Gulf Of Mexico Using A Particulate Imaging System, Justin Edward Blancher

Master's Theses

To estimate the diurnal periodicity in the biological pump, a floating array with a marine snow camera system at 150 m depth was used, and particles were imaged at a 40 second interval for a 24 to 30 hour period at five sites in the Gulf of Mexico in June 2017. Each image was processed to identify and size all the particles within the frame, which was then processed to determine diameter, an estimated volume, and settling speed for each particle. Using these parameters, particle mass was estimated using algebraically rearranged calculations for settling speed. Each hour during the deployment …