Between 32 and 52 days after the tracer was released at about 9°30'N (around No. 2 on the left map), researchers took 100 samples of water in various locations (or "stations," indicated by numbered circles) to see where the tracer dispersed. White circles=no tracer found; pink=a little tracer; red=a lot of tracer found. Stations 2 through 53 of the tracer survey (left map) showed the tracer had moved to 9o50’ N, demonstrating that larvae could make the 20-mile trip along the ridge axis within a larval lifespan. Stations 54 to 100, sampled subsequently, showed that the tracer moved about 50 kilometers west of the ridge, before heading back toward the same ridge it came from. (Courtesy of Jim Ledwell, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)[back]
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