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A Long Look Back

Tom Lanagan of WHOI (right) and Paul Walsczak of Oregon State University (facing camera) insert a section of pipe into the barrel of the Long Core during a research cruise in February 2010. The instrument, which was developed at WHOI, can collect cores of seafloor sediment up to 45 meters (150 feet) long. At nearly twice the length of any other coring system in the U.S. fleet, it gives researchers access to sediments that were laid down millions of years ago. Analysis of fossils and minerals in the cores can help reveal details about climate and ocean conditions in ancient times.(Photo by Jordan Landers, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)