During the 2003 Leichter Aquarius mission a network of temperature sensors
was deployed at Conch Reef. The sensors covered an area larger than the size
of a football field, about 60-120 feet deep, and they were connected by cables
to a central computer and power device. The group of temperature sensors was
termed the Benthic Oceanographic Array (BOA). The attached presentation shows
a portion of data recorded during the mission, when several internal waves affected
the reef. Red colors indicate warmer water and blue is cold water, ranging from
about 20 - 30 degrees Centigrade. The vertical axis of the presentation is depth
and the horizontal axes reflect the area covered by BOA. This is a remarkable
change in temperature recorded over a matter of hours and minutes on the reef.
The presentation shows the reef profile from about the depth of Aquarius down
the reef slope in front of the underwater habitat. Careful measurements of bottom
depths were also made during the mission and you can see that sometimes water
moves up the spurs and grooves of the reef face, or gets caught in pockets.
You can learn more about this impressive oceanographic process - upwelling -
in the Aquarius "Underwater
Pipeline Lesson Plan."