The ice samples are then either stored and transported frozen, melted then frozen or melted and filtered to collect the material in the ice, sometimes at temperatures as low as -112 degrees Fahrenheit!
Seawater samples are measured for similar properties as the sea ice but are collected in tubes from cracks in the ice. We use a special seawater tap on the icebreaker, something called a CTD rosette, where the CTD stands for "conductivity, temperature, and depth". The CTD is connected to a heavy-duty cable that allows scientists to send it to the bottom of the ocean through a large hole in the ice where we can open special bottles at different depths to collect the water samples. These samples are split up unto sub-samples, and then stored frozen, filtered then frozen, or sometimes they are analyzed using equipment on the icebreaker.
Animals like fish, plankton, algae and crustaceans are collected using special fishing lines or nets that are sent hundreds to thousands of feet deep into the ocean. The fish are usually then dissected in laboratories on board the icebreaker then stored frozen, while the smaller organisms are separated by species then counted. Measurements on the animals include things like DNA and ecosystem population statistics.
Snow samples are collected several times a week from snow pits dug by scientists and by using special snow sample collecting tools. These samples are stored frozen on the icebreaker until they can be brought back to land, where they are sent to many laboratories to measure properties like snow crystal shape and size and to determine the presence of microbes and other particles. MOSAiC scientists regularly measure snow temperature, depth and the gases coming up from the snow.
