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We are boldly exploring our unknown Ocean to excite interest and inform the wise stewardship of our planet.

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Seeking Salt Fingers in the Tropical Atlantic
In the northwestern equatorial Atlantic, the water column is highly stratified, with warm, salty water sitting atop cooler, fresher, nutrient-rich waters carried northward from the Antarctic by the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). These conditions make the region a hotspot for salt finger mixing, a fine-scale process in which heat and salt are exchanged across density gradients, leading to waters sinking and rising in a beautiful, swirling motion. Scientists suspect that these salt fingers transport essential nutrients for plankton growth, such as nitrate, to the surface, thereby fueling ecosystem productivity and potentially influencing carbon export to deeper waters. Drs. Joseph Gradone, Corday Selden of Rutgers University, U.S., and an international team will venture to the Tropical Atlantic to collect essential data on salt fingers and their role in nutrient transport from the deep sea to surface waters. Scientific evidence suggests that salt fingers in this region are intensifying as waters warm and their salinity changes, driven by the ocean absorbing excess heat from the atmosphere. Gradone and Selden hypothesize that this trend is amplifying salt-finger mixing and potentially offsetting predicted ocean productivity loss in the region by carrying more nutrients to the surface and altering ecosystem structure. Using R/V Falkor (too)’s CTD and rosette, two coordinated gliders, and an untethered, autonomous oceanographic vehicle called the Vertical Microstructure Profiler 5500, they will improve our understanding of the physical dynamics of salt fingers and their impact on primary productivity in this region of the global Ocean.
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Expeditions

In the coming years, our expeditions will explore understudied regions around all seven continents in our global Ocean.

Latest Expedition

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Seeking Salt Fingers in the Tropical Atlantic
In the northwestern equatorial Atlantic, the water column is highly stratified, with warm, salty water sitting atop cooler, fresher, nutrient-rich waters carried northward from the Antarctic by the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). These conditions make the region a hotspot for salt finger mixing, a fine-scale process in which heat and salt are exchanged across density gradients, leading to waters sinking and rising in a beautiful, swirling motion. Scientists suspect that these salt fingers transport essential nutrients for plankton growth, such as nitrate, to the surface, thereby fueling ecosystem productivity and potentially influencing carbon export to deeper waters. Drs. Joseph Gradone, Corday Selden of Rutgers University, U.S., and an international team will venture to the Tropical Atlantic to collect essential data on salt fingers and their role in nutrient transport from the deep sea to surface waters. Scientific evidence suggests that salt fingers in this region are intensifying as waters warm and their salinity changes, driven by the ocean absorbing excess heat from the atmosphere. Gradone and Selden hypothesize that this trend is amplifying salt-finger mixing and potentially offsetting predicted ocean productivity loss in the region by carrying more nutrients to the surface and altering ecosystem structure. Using R/V Falkor (too)’s CTD and rosette, two coordinated gliders, and an untethered, autonomous oceanographic vehicle called the Vertical Microstructure Profiler 5500, they will improve our understanding of the physical dynamics of salt fingers and their impact on primary productivity in this region of the global Ocean.
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Programs

From grants for caregivers to an artist-at-sea residency, our programs strive to deepen knowledge and inspire a connection with our planet’s life support system.

Latest Expedition

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Seeking Salt Fingers in the Tropical Atlantic
In the northwestern equatorial Atlantic, the water column is highly stratified, with warm, salty water sitting atop cooler, fresher, nutrient-rich waters carried northward from the Antarctic by the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). These conditions make the region a hotspot for salt finger mixing, a fine-scale process in which heat and salt are exchanged across density gradients, leading to waters sinking and rising in a beautiful, swirling motion. Scientists suspect that these salt fingers transport essential nutrients for plankton growth, such as nitrate, to the surface, thereby fueling ecosystem productivity and potentially influencing carbon export to deeper waters. Drs. Joseph Gradone, Corday Selden of Rutgers University, U.S., and an international team will venture to the Tropical Atlantic to collect essential data on salt fingers and their role in nutrient transport from the deep sea to surface waters. Scientific evidence suggests that salt fingers in this region are intensifying as waters warm and their salinity changes, driven by the ocean absorbing excess heat from the atmosphere. Gradone and Selden hypothesize that this trend is amplifying salt-finger mixing and potentially offsetting predicted ocean productivity loss in the region by carrying more nutrients to the surface and altering ecosystem structure. Using R/V Falkor (too)’s CTD and rosette, two coordinated gliders, and an untethered, autonomous oceanographic vehicle called the Vertical Microstructure Profiler 5500, they will improve our understanding of the physical dynamics of salt fingers and their impact on primary productivity in this region of the global Ocean.
Read More

Galleries

Experience the wonder of our global Ocean via immersive galleries of art, scientific discoveries, and film.

Latest Expedition

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Seeking Salt Fingers in the Tropical Atlantic
In the northwestern equatorial Atlantic, the water column is highly stratified, with warm, salty water sitting atop cooler, fresher, nutrient-rich waters carried northward from the Antarctic by the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). These conditions make the region a hotspot for salt finger mixing, a fine-scale process in which heat and salt are exchanged across density gradients, leading to waters sinking and rising in a beautiful, swirling motion. Scientists suspect that these salt fingers transport essential nutrients for plankton growth, such as nitrate, to the surface, thereby fueling ecosystem productivity and potentially influencing carbon export to deeper waters. Drs. Joseph Gradone, Corday Selden of Rutgers University, U.S., and an international team will venture to the Tropical Atlantic to collect essential data on salt fingers and their role in nutrient transport from the deep sea to surface waters. Scientific evidence suggests that salt fingers in this region are intensifying as waters warm and their salinity changes, driven by the ocean absorbing excess heat from the atmosphere. Gradone and Selden hypothesize that this trend is amplifying salt-finger mixing and potentially offsetting predicted ocean productivity loss in the region by carrying more nutrients to the surface and altering ecosystem structure. Using R/V Falkor (too)’s CTD and rosette, two coordinated gliders, and an untethered, autonomous oceanographic vehicle called the Vertical Microstructure Profiler 5500, they will improve our understanding of the physical dynamics of salt fingers and their impact on primary productivity in this region of the global Ocean.
Read More

Science Team Resources

To help you plan for your expedition, this hub includes information about outreach, technical specifications for our robotic platforms, a list of lab equipment, information about accessing data repositories, and more.

Latest Expedition

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Seeking Salt Fingers in the Tropical Atlantic
In the northwestern equatorial Atlantic, the water column is highly stratified, with warm, salty water sitting atop cooler, fresher, nutrient-rich waters carried northward from the Antarctic by the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). These conditions make the region a hotspot for salt finger mixing, a fine-scale process in which heat and salt are exchanged across density gradients, leading to waters sinking and rising in a beautiful, swirling motion. Scientists suspect that these salt fingers transport essential nutrients for plankton growth, such as nitrate, to the surface, thereby fueling ecosystem productivity and potentially influencing carbon export to deeper waters. Drs. Joseph Gradone, Corday Selden of Rutgers University, U.S., and an international team will venture to the Tropical Atlantic to collect essential data on salt fingers and their role in nutrient transport from the deep sea to surface waters. Scientific evidence suggests that salt fingers in this region are intensifying as waters warm and their salinity changes, driven by the ocean absorbing excess heat from the atmosphere. Gradone and Selden hypothesize that this trend is amplifying salt-finger mixing and potentially offsetting predicted ocean productivity loss in the region by carrying more nutrients to the surface and altering ecosystem structure. Using R/V Falkor (too)’s CTD and rosette, two coordinated gliders, and an untethered, autonomous oceanographic vehicle called the Vertical Microstructure Profiler 5500, they will improve our understanding of the physical dynamics of salt fingers and their impact on primary productivity in this region of the global Ocean.
Read More

Video ~ Rough Recovery

Back to Expedition

Often, the "small victories" of a research cruise are what add up to a successful expedition. This video gives a great look into what many probably assume is an easy task: recovering samples and getting them on board Research Vessel Falkor.

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Video ~ Rough Recovery

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