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Sediment traps used for water sampling.

Sediment traps used for water sampling.
Sediment traps used for water sampling.
Sediment traps used for water sampling.
Sediment traps used for water sampling.
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348237
Linder, Christopher L.
Sediment traps used for water sampling.
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04/23/2009
graphics/PD5_dailys/cl_20090423143703.jpg
Pat Kelly, of the University of Rhode Island, is looking for thorium in the water column (the ocean from surface to sea floor.) He measures thorium levels in the water itself and also on the particles that fall into his sediment traps. "Any dead material, it'll stick to," he says. His sediment traps collect mostly zooplankton feces and various dead things that are sinking through the water, toward the bottom. This includes algae from the bloom the scientists were studying this week.
Image of The Day caption:
Sediment traps are containers that scientists place in the ocean to collect tiny sediment or larger accumulations called ?marine snow? ?bits of organic matter, dead sea creatures, shells, dust and minerals? falling toward the sea floor. Analyzing the samples helps scientists understand how fast nutrients and trace elements move from the ocean surface to the deep ocean. During this April/May 2009 cruise in the Bering Sea, researchers were measuring thorium levels in the water itself and also on the particles that fall into the sediment traps.
Photo by Chris Linder
© Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
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