A recent expedition to the Southern Ocean is exploring a potential missing piece that could help us better understand the ocean and its future.
Researchers, including Bigelow Laboratory Senior Research Scientist Ben Twining, spent six weeks aboard the RRS Sir David Attenborough traveling from the tip of Chile toward Antarctica. In one of the most rapidly changing regions on Earth, the team studied how trace metals like manganese may influence the productivity of the Southern Ocean.
This international effort, part of the IRON-MAN project, combines field sampling, shipboard experiments, and modeling to better understand how these metals move through the Southern Ocean and shape its response to warmer ocean temperatures.
📸: Ben Twining
