The phenomenon known as "whitings" (patches of water approximately 1 to 2 kilometers in length and width that appear milky-white due to suspended calcium carbonate sediment) occurs in the Bahamas and many shallow, tropical seas around the world. Whitings are dynamic, constantly changing shape as they move with tidal and wind-driven currents, making it difficult to investigate them during the day and impossible at night. Determining the significance of whiting formation in carbon cycling and sediment budgets has been problematic due to conversies on the origin of whitings. Much of this controversy has resulted from difficulties in measuring geochemical changes in whitings that indicate whether the carbonate sediment is made in the water column or resuspended from the bottom.

Recently, USGS and University of South Florida investigators have shown that whitings are associated with blooms of microbes such as blue-green algae and unicellular green algae. USGS scientists have been funded by the Department of Energy to examine the role of microbes in whitings formation and the effects of this phenomenon on carbon dioxide cycling. Using the SHARQ, researchers trapped whitings water on the Bahamas Bank and, for the first time ever, measured geochemical changes in whitings over 24 hour time periods. Results from these studies indicate that calcium carbonate sediment in whitings is precipitated from seawater.

It is well known that inorganic calcium carbonate sediment production generates carbon dioxide. USGS scientists also measured air-sea carbon dioxide fluxes in whitings, for the first time, using a floating bell that traps a small volume of air directly over the water's surface. These measurements indicate that carbonate sediment production in whitings does not generate carbon dioxide and suggests that sediment production in whitings is linked to microbial metabolism. These findings are significant because they suggest that whitings formation may act as a sink for carbon dioxide.