The Project: Marine Snow

Ocean water isn’t “clean” and pure. It has lots of small pieces of solid material in it (particles).  Most of the particles in the ocean are organic material, including living plants and animals, or pieces of dead organisms, or their waste products. These particles can also be dust from the air or pieces of the continents carried to the ocean by rivers or waves.

“Marine snow” is the name given to clumps (aggregates) of dead or dying plants and animals. This is organic material. Each clump of marine snow is usually made up of groups of smaller particles. As these particles sink toward the ocean bottom, bacteria and plankton attach to them and feed on them. The bacteria and plankton release a kind of “glue” that holds these particles together in clumps or strings. When many large particles sink through the water, it looks like a snowfall.

Many of these particles sink to the bottom of the ocean. They become part of the seafloor sediment — the mud on the ocean bottom. When scientists study the sediment, they study the organic matter buried there. The scientists learn a lot about the history of the ocean and the planet Earth by studying the “story” that they find recorded in the sediment. The sediment gives us clues to the past, which helps us understand how the oceans work today and predict how they might behave in the future.

Other pages in this section:

• The project
• Research question
• Research methods