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Bottled Water With a Bite

Water samples taken from deep in the North Atlantic wait outside WHOI’s Fye Laboratory for processing. They will be analyzed for trace elements such as neodymium and thorium, which provide a chemical “fingerprint” in the water and on solid particles that scientists use to trace circulation and sedimentation in the ocean. The samples were collected on the R/V Atlantis recently and are part of research by Maureen Soon, Roger Francois, and Drew Snauffer at the University of British Columbia. WHOI operates Atlantis for the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS), an organization of 61 academic institutions and national laboratories involved in oceanographic research. (Photo by Ken Kostel, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)