Probing the Pathways

A buoy sits on the WHOI dock in preparation for an August 2016 expedition to the Irminger and Labrador Seas. The buoy, which will be attached to a sub-surface mooring, will measure the transport of freshwater, heat, and mass and will stay out until 2018. The expedition is part of a five-year effort called Overturning in the Subpolar North Atlantic Program (OSNAP), which allows scientists to continuously measure the strength and pathways of ocean currents in the region. Such currents, along with the atmosphere, play a critical role in regulating Earth’s climate, yet the complexities of how water moves around the globe and how this may change in a warming climate are little understood. (Photo by Dick Pittenger, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)