Catching snow in the Atlantic

Sue Hartman and her team, from NOC, are currently in the northeast Atlantic for the PAP-SO Cruise JC231 (read the original post here). During the cruise they will be deploying equipment to collect samples that will help us extend our knowledge on the movement of matter from the surface to the deep ocean.

The new marine snow catcher will be used to collect particles, small plants and animals as well as micro plastics as they sink towards the depth of the ocean. The methods and data obtained by the team will be compared to those from the team in South Africa.

Marine Snow Catcher on board of the JC231 cruise (picture by Sue Hartman)

Deep water sediment traps will also be deployed to collect samples deep down into the ocean and over a continued period of time, an activity that has already been going on for more than 30 years! This will help us get data on micro plastics and organic carbon that are present in our oceans.

Recovery of a previously deployed deep water sediment trap (picture: Alice Carter Champion)