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We have been studying the continental margins along the California Coast. These are the regions of the ocean most affected by pollution and development. These are also regions of intensified biological and chemical activity. Here is where the half of the marine production on our planet takes place. Here is where the fisheries take the bulk of their catch. Here is where the surplus bounty of these waters is trapped in the form of organic carbon. Beneath layers of sediment, bumped from the biospheric-atmospheric waltz around which this element would dance freely, carbon here is preserved for millions of years, depending on the conditions. It is our task to understand what processes will determine wheather carbon here will be preserved in the sediments and what processes will strike up the music and allow carbon to twirl again, back into the water column and re-enter this biogeochemical dance of life. As carbon is cycled, so are its dance partners: Silicon, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Phosphorus, Iron, Copper, Cobalt, Manganese and Cadmium, also of fundamental importance to this geochemical two-step. Our task was to retrieve sediment cores from several stations along the continental margins, without disrupting this dance. This means that the cores, and all the processing, had to be kept at the same temperature as the environment from which it was taken: The bottom of the sea. I was beginning to sweat it. The lab space we had used the year before, a field issue WW-II "walk-in" refrigerator, was about 5X7 feet, and about 5 feet tall. Here, scientists would stoop to process their valuable samples in near-freezing, cramped quarters, straddling centrifuges spinning at 10,000 rpm in the light of one dim bulb. Chained to the deck of our research vessel, we would spend weeks at sea in this reefer from hell. (un)Fortunately, entropy finally prevailed and the entire refrigeration unit found itself in pieces in the middle of Highway 1 on its way back to Oregon State University. Thus ended one nightmare and began another.
We started looking at commercially available units, all built for the food industry, all too expensive and none of them seaworthy. Our focus shifted to milk trucks and Producer's Dairy (Monterey) came through with 5 trucks. Unfortunately, they were too old and large for the R/V Pt. Sur, our research vessel. Wreckers from King City to San Francisco could only come up with one option that would take thousands ($) to convert.
While driving down the coast past Davenport, I noticed a fleet of cute little refrigerated vans and wondered to myself "What geochemists work here?". This turned out to be the home of Odwalla, Inc., a natural juice company with which many of us are familiar. A call to John Stewart, Fleet Manager, revealed that one of these vans was to be removed from a truck for a flatbed conversion and Odwalla would be willing to donate the box to our needy and desperate cause. It was perfect. With fiberglass walls, a coved aluminum floor, roll-up and person doors, and a recently overhauled cooler, the van was sturdy and well insulated. Steve Fitzwater (Trace Metals) and Aldo DeRose (Special Projects), with help from the Chemical Oceanography group, made fast work of the conversion and in about a week, the van was ready to go. From squeezing fruits to squeezing mud, the Odwalla van was now outfitted with lights, power, water, benches, core racks, unistrut, a sink, modified door and platform. In addition, the overhauled Carrier Skylark refrigeration unit was purring like a cat with cold breath.
As the paint was drying, the ship's crane lowered our juice box to the deck of the Pt. Sur where it saw plenty of action the next 45 days from Monterey Bay, the Southern California Basins to the Mexican Border and about 100 miles off-shore. In all, about 60 cores were processed at bottom-water temperatures and in bright, spacious luxury. The Odwalla motto "Juice for Humans" was taking on new meaning as we extracted the pore waters from our samples. These sediment core juices, together with the benthic flux chamber samples, will tell us how elements are cycled between the sediments and the overlying waters from a variety of different environments. Already, some of these findings have been presented at an international conference in San Francisco. Those attending the talks saw a bright fruit covered box, strapped to the deck of the R/V Pt. Sur. They would know the data came courtesy of Odwalla Inc. and the reefer from heaven.
PS. As marine scientists, we see very little evidence for a benevolent diety, especially during the current funding climate in Washington. This donation, however, is proof there is a God....and she squeezes fruit.
