evidence: The amount of CO2 absorbed or emitted by the Southern Ocean, which scientists call CO2 flux, is primarily a balance between the outgassing of natural carbon in deeper water rising to the surface that is not consumed by plankton and other biological processes, and the absorption of increasing CO2 levels in the atmosphere caused by human activity. These processes occur continuously, simultaneously and with varying intensity across the Southern Ocean from the warmer subtropical waters to the icy seas around Antarctica. [...] Although data showed the ocean was both absorbing and emitting CO2 during the voyage, outgassing was prevalent during late fall and early winter in the Indian Ocean sector of the Antarctic Zone, which comprised about one third of the route. "The outgassing we measured in 2019 was not as strong as the outgassing measured by Argo biogeochemical floats in this same region in 2014 and 2015, so we expect that CO2 flux conditions are highly variable from year to year," Sutton said.