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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Analysis Of Optical Spikes Reveals Dynamics Of Aggregates In The Twilight Zone, Nathan Briggs Aug 2010

Analysis Of Optical Spikes Reveals Dynamics Of Aggregates In The Twilight Zone, Nathan Briggs

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The "biological pump," whereby phytoplankton grow in the surface ocean, aggregate, and sink, is a critical process contributing to global atmospheric CO2 drawdown and provides the vast majority of food for deep ocean and benthic ecosystems. The strength of this pump hinges on the amount of material that stick together to form larger aggregates, the sinking rates of these aggregates, and the rate at which they are consumed as they sink. However, marine aggregates, also called "marine snow," are often fragile and notoriously difficult to sample, their sinking rates are highly variable and difficult to quantify, and their concentrations can …


Collaborative Proposal: Cascadia Slope Circulation Study, Mary Jane Perry Jan 2010

Collaborative Proposal: Cascadia Slope Circulation Study, Mary Jane Perry

University of Maine Office of Research Administration: Grant Reports

Intellectual Merits:
This project will continue to observe and understand the physics and biology of the highly productive northeast Pacific boundary current region over the continental slope off Washington and Oregon - the Cascadia slope - with an autonomous, sustained presence. For over a year, Seagliders, long-range autonomous underwater vehicles, have been deployed to survey the temperature, salinity, dissolved, oxygen, chlorophyll fluorescence, and optical backscatter structure of the slope off. Washington. Seagliders have collected data on sections from the continental shelf edge offshore 220 km at fortnightly intervals, reporting back data after each dive, on deployments typically lasting 4-5 months. …