ǧ����Ƶ

Note: Rut Pedrosa Pàmies, research scientist in the ǧ����Ƶ Ecosystems Center, is the principal investigator on the ǧ����Ƶ sub-award for this National Science Foundation grant. Maureen Conte, senior scientist at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences and MBL Fellow, is the lead principal investigator.

The ), one of the world’s longest-running time-series, has received continued funding to help the oceanographic community answer ongoing questions about the connections between climate and the particle debris that sinks through the ocean’s water column. This process, called the particle flux, is a major control on the global carbon cycle and provides the fuel to support most biological processes operating within the ocean’s deep interior. Since 1978, sediment traps on the OFP’s mooring have continuously collected the particle flux at three depths up to 10,500 feet (3,200 meters) at a location about 45 miles (75 kilometers) southeast of Bermuda in the Sargasso Sea. Twice each year, the OFP team sails on research vessel Atlantic Explorer to recover the mooring, retrieve the flux samples, service the mooring, reload sample bottles, and redeploy the mooring for another six months of sampling. The $2.4 million award, granted in October 2021 by the U.S. program, provides three more years of funding to support the OFP’s seagoing efforts, staff, and detailed analyses of the changing magnitude and composition of the particle flux in the deep ocean.

Photo: A renewed grant will provide ongoing support for the members of the Oceanic Flux Program time-series, including BIOS faculty member and MBL Fellow Maureen Conte (center), as well as MBL colleagues JC Weber (right) and Rut Pedrosa Pàmies. Photo by A. Bochdansky