{"id":2540,"date":"2026-11-04T21:19:47","date_gmt":"2026-11-04T21:19:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/?p=2540"},"modified":"2026-11-04T21:19:47","modified_gmt":"2026-11-04T21:19:47","slug":"a-global-windmill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/?p=2540","title":{"rendered":"A Global Windmill"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure data-wp-context=\"{&quot;imageId&quot;:&quot;6aebc941dd824&quot;}\" data-wp-interactive=\"core\/image\" data-wp-key=\"6aebc941dd824\" class=\"wp-block-image size-large wp-lightbox-container\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" data-wp-class--hide=\"state.isContentHidden\" data-wp-class--show=\"state.isContentVisible\" data-wp-init=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on--click=\"actions.showLightbox\" data-wp-on--load=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" data-wp-on--pointerdown=\"actions.preloadImage\" data-wp-on--pointerenter=\"actions.preloadImageWithDelay\" data-wp-on--pointerleave=\"actions.cancelPreload\" data-wp-on-window--resize=\"callbacks.setButtonStyles\" src=\"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/2026-11-03-1024x683.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2541\" srcset=\"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/2026-11-03-1024x683.png 1024w, https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/2026-11-03-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/2026-11-03-768x512.png 768w, https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/2026-11-03.png 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><button\n\t\t\tclass=\"lightbox-trigger\"\n\t\t\ttype=\"button\"\n\t\t\taria-haspopup=\"dialog\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-bind--aria-label=\"state.thisImage.triggerButtonAriaLabel\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-init=\"callbacks.initTriggerButton\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-on--click=\"actions.showLightbox\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-style--right=\"state.thisImage.buttonRight\"\n\t\t\tdata-wp-style--top=\"state.thisImage.buttonTop\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\t<svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"12\" height=\"12\" fill=\"none\" viewBox=\"0 0 12 12\">\n\t\t\t\t<path fill=\"#fff\" d=\"M2 0a2 2 0 0 0-2 2v2h1.5V2a.5.5 0 0 1 .5-.5h2V0H2Zm2 10.5H2a.5.5 0 0 1-.5-.5V8H0v2a2 2 0 0 0 2 2h2v-1.5ZM8 12v-1.5h2a.5.5 0 0 0 .5-.5V8H12v2a2 2 0 0 1-2 2H8Zm2-12a2 2 0 0 1 2 2v2h-1.5V2a.5.5 0 0 0-.5-.5H8V0h2Z\" \/>\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Researchers, including the study\u2019s lead author Barney Balch, prepare to deploy a probe off the ship to collect optical data (Credit: Sunny Pinkham).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Southern Ocean may seem far removed from the North Pacific or the Gulf of Maine, but its waters connect to every major ocean basin through powerful circulation. Driven by strong winds and currents, these waters travel northward and become part of a vast, interconnected system. Think of it like a global \u201cwindmill\u201d that continually moves and redistributes water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A recent study led by Bigelow Laboratory researchers explores how the optical, physical, and biogeochemical properties of two water masses formed in the Southern Ocean change over time as they travel through this circulation system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As these water masses mix into the global ocean, the ways in which they transport and recycle nutrients have far-reaching effects on phytoplankton communities worldwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-3e41869c wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button is-style-fill\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-text-align-right has-medium-font-size has-custom-font-size wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bigelow.org\/news\/articles\/2026-11-03.html\">Learn More About What They Found<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Southern Ocean may seem far removed from the North Pacific or the Gulf of Maine, but its waters connect to every major ocean basin through powerful circulation. Driven by strong winds and currents, these waters travel northward and become part of a vast, interconnected system. Think of it like a global \u201cwindmill\u201d that continually [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2541,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","css_class_manager_body_classes":"","css_class_manager_use_in_post_loop":false},"categories":[11],"tags":[31,63,35,32],"class_list":["post-2540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science-ocean-function","tag-barney-balch","tag-nutrient-cycle","tag-phytoplankton","tag-press-release"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2540"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2540\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2544,"href":"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2540\/revisions\/2544"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/currents.bigelow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}