I’m on this research cruise to investigate controls on surface water chemistry that influence sea spray composition. Sea spray is generated at the ocean’s surface, from waves breaking at the beach, and also from howling winds creating choppy water with whitecaps and many, many bubbles. Sea spray is one of two major natural sources of… Continue reading
The oceans play a major role in the carbon cycle, storing about 50 times more carbon than the atmosphere. The rise in atmospheric CO2 as a result of human activities (burning fossil fuels, cement production, etc.) has been significantly slowed by the uptake and storage of about a third of this carbon by the oceans.… Continue reading
Nitrogen! This simple element controls so much about life in the ocean and therefore Earth’s climate as a whole. Much of the ocean’s fertility is limited by nitrogen – an essential ingredient for making DNA and proteins – so in in many ways, the availability of this nutrient sets the concentration of greenhouse gases like… Continue reading
Napoleon once said he made all his generals out of mud. Here on the RV Thomas G. Thompson future chief scientists are elbows deep in mud. Today we head back towards shore with an intense coring plan for San Pedro Basin, the region between Catalina Island and the Long Beach area. Although this large… Continue reading
February 18, 2016 The R/V Thomas B. Thompson constantly measures current speeds during the cruise using an acoustic doppler current profiler (ADCP) mounted to the hull. The ADCP data also reveal the movements of fish and zooplankton as they move vertically in the ocean during diel vertical migrations. During the night, fish and zooplankton are… Continue reading
We’ve headed back a bit more inshore from our deep water station, and are collecting samples to the southwest of Catalina Island (pictured above, illuminated by the light pollution on its other side). The weather has turned cool and rainy, almost like it suddenly remembered it was February, and shouldn’t be warm and sunny all… Continue reading
Prior to the departure of this oceanographic expedition, two (overly-personified) scientific instruments met in the back of a snugly packed minivan as it made the long rush hour trek from L.A. to San Diego to catch the ship. Packed snugly between toolboxes, backpacks, and a (soaking wet) stinky wetsuit, these two beloved pieces of… Continue reading
How Long Have I Been Awake? Wait, what day is it? Is today tomorrow yet, or still yesterday? Posted by Chris
Tonight’s sunset. Not a bad one. I give it a 9/10. No green “flash,” but definitely lots of green as it dipped under the horizon. Posted by Chris
Tonight we cored in deep water off the California shelf. The unique bathymetry of the California Borderlands means you don’t get a standard shelf-slope profile as you head offshore, but if you go west far enough, you finally get past all the Borderland basins and find a true shelf break, past which the water is… Continue reading
