Studies of Nitrogen and Carbon Biogeochemistry during SOFex

University Of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, North Dartmouth MA

Investigators

Abstract

ABSTRACT OCE-9986061 Researchers at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth will participate in an larger expedition to the Southern Ocean (SOFeX) in austral summer of 2001-2002 to study the effects of mesoscale fertilization of the water column with iron. Specifically, these investigators will study the response of stable nitrogen and carbon isotope cycling to iron fertilization. Their goal is to use these isotopes as tracers to first determine the magnitude and mechanisms of nitrogen isotopic fractionation in response to an episodic iron input and thus to predict what kind of paleoceanographic signal would be generated (and preserved in the underlying sediments). Secondly, they will assess the feasibility of using stable isotopes of nitrogen and carbon as in situ transient tracers of nitrogen and carbon transfers in these open-water mesoscale perturbation experiments.