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Walking on Water

July 11, 2017

WHOI research assistant Kate Morkeski and MIT-WHOI Joint Program student Mallory Ringham navigate a temporary causeway in the Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve during an exceptionally high “king tide.” Coastal wetlands play a critical but poorly understood role in global climate, transferring carbon among the atmosphere, sediments, and coastal ocean. The amount of carbon—and carbon dioxide—moving in and out of salt marshes changes throughout the year, and, to better understand that movement, WHOI and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) are measuring how these levels vary with tides and seasons. (Photo by Tom Kleindinst, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)