09 April 2004

Salty air from the Pacific Ocean

Jim Scanlon is a California writer and amateur scientist who has made many trips to South America at his own expense to measure the ozone layer and solar ultraviolet. Recently Scanlon has collaborated with the Society for Amateur Scientists to collect samples of air arriving from over the Pacific Ocean. This microscope image shows salt crystals and fine particulate matter collected from the California coast north of San Francisco on clear tape that has been pressed onto a sterile microscope slide. Sample collected by Jim Scanlon. Microphotograph by Forrest M. Mims III.