This work is to improve our understanding of the role of marine snow in the (oligotrophic) North Pacific Central Gyre where data regarding such questions is especially lacking. Souba samplings of seawater at station ALOHA will be evaluated from the perspective of the aggregation process itself: marine snow composition, abundance, size and structure. Macro-aggregation rates and marine snow residence times will be independently estimated using 234Th:238U disequilibria techniques. Analysis of data will be constrained by high quality biological, chemical and physical water column data.
