The ocean and its inhabitants play an important role in cycling carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Determining how much carbon is locked away in the ocean is critical to understanding Earth’s changing climate. Scientists in MBARI’s Carbon Flux Ecology Team are studying the ocean’s role in cycling carbon, leveraging advanced instruments developed by MBARI engineers. Monterey Canyon connects productive coastal waters to the ocean’s depths, making it an ideal location for the team to study how carbon is transported from the atmosphere and locked away in the deep sea.

The expedition team will deploy a wide variety of imaging instruments to observe the rain of organic material—bits of dead plankton, poop, and mucus known as marine snow—that brings carbon to the deep seafloor.

Autonomous robots carrying advanced microscopes will photograph plankton in the ocean’s sunlit surface waters. Drifting camera systems, a camera-equipped CTD instrument deployed from the ship, and MBARI’s remotely operated vehicle Doc Ricketts will help the team visualize particles sinking through the water column. Imaging systems on the seafloor quantify the “snowfall” of particles from above. Together, these tools will help scientists better understand the complex calculus of ocean carbon transport.