Abundance of Particulate Aggregrates (Marine Snow) Measured during the JGOFS Equatorial Pacific Process Study

During the fourth cruise (TT012), data were collected at 5 stations along 140 deg W longitude from 17 deg S latitude to the equator. On the second cruise, a camera and strobelights were used to illuminate aggregate particles. The system was lowered slowly 10-20 m/min through the water column on a trawl wire, exposing frames at a time interval of 7-20 sec calculated to yield 700-800 frames between the surface and the sea floor.

Depth was monitored and recorded using a pinger and the ship's precision depth recorder. The parameter measured was the number of aggregates greater than 0.5 mm. The data is public domain and can be retrieved on-line at "usjgofs.whoi.edu/jg/dir/jgofs/" [The information in this summary was taken from the JGOFS World Wide Web pages.]