A shell of their former selves

These fossilized, seafloor shells–seen under a microscope–are part of WHOI research to learn more about past ocean climate. The tiny shells of single-cell organisms that died and sank to the ocean bottom contain chemical clues to water temperature and rainfall in that area of the ocean. Joint Program graduate student Fern Gibbons studies the shells–which build up in layers over thousands of years– to learn about the monsoon patterns in the Indian Ocean. (Photo by Tom Kleindinst, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)