River Detectives

Canada’s Fraser River transports more than water—it also transports clues that can help scientists understand the global carbon cycle. As the river winds from the Rocky Mountains and Coast Range toward the ocean, it picks up carbon from the atmosphere, rocks and plants. Some of this carbon is deposited into the ocean, where it can lie buried on the seafloor for millions of years. Scientists participating in the Global Rivers Observatory analyze rivers like the Fraser to track the age of sediments, where they came from, where carbon enters and exits the river, and ultimately how this complex process influences Earth’s climate. (Photo by Bernhard Peucker-Ehrenbrink, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)