Research vessel in Antarctic waters.
Research vessel in Antarctic waters.

The Southern Ocean plays a major role in taking carbon from our atmosphere and storing it in the ocean. Yet the finer points of what makes these waters so good at doing that are not well known. Notoriously dangerous seas, the Southern Ocean — which surrounds Antarctica — have historically been difficult for scientist to access and study. College of the Environment oceanographers are set to help change that as one of 10 partner institutions in a new National Science Foundation study. UW’s contribution to the program will be through building and deploying 200 floats that will measure oxygen, nitrogen, acidity, chlorophyll and carbon.

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