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Deep-sea Snapshot

This may look like a bucket of beach sand, but it’s actually a pristine sample of the ocean floor from 1,300 feet below the surface. During a 2003 expedition to Indonesia’s Makassar Strait, researchers carefully extracted several tubes of sediment using a device called a multi-core. Because material builds up over time, scientists can analyze its chemical composition to reveal past changes in currents and climate. The Makassar Strait is the main passage for the Indonesian Throughflow, a current linking the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Changes to the Throughflow are connected to broader climate shifts, including changes to the El Nino Southern Oscillation. (Photo by James Saenz, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)