The Ocean's Carbon Cycle

Chris Measures of the Department of Oceanography at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa studies trace metals in ocean water to better understand the cycling of the nutrients in ocean plants. The plants are a key component of the carbon cycle, a critical influence on greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere. In this image, Measures and collaborators team lower a sampling rosette off the back of the research ship R/V Roger Revelle. On the research cruise CLIVAR/CO2 leg I8S, from Antarctica to western Australia, the researchers work around the clock to deploy the rosette at every 1° of latitude or longitude. They are occasionally sidelined by foul weather, which makes for a dangerous recovery operation; in severe swells, the rosette could be pitched into the back of the ship.

Credit: Daniel Park