US GEOTRACES North Atlantic Section: Trace Metals in the Surface Waters of the North Atlantic Transect - Plus an Archive of the Vertical Profiles

University Of California-Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz CA

Investigators

Abstract

As a complementary addition to the U.S. North Atlantic GEOTRACES cruise, a scientist from the University of California, Santa Cruz will provide the core program with an additional 500 surface samples collected using a surface clean fish sampling system. The samples will be analyzed for a suite of key GEOTRACES dissolved trace metals including iron, aluminum, manganese, zinc, cadmium, copper, and non-key elements such as cobalt, nickel, lead and silver. Given the surface samples will be collected from surface waters with a wide range in productivity and export production, as well as contrasting internal, riverine and atmospheric inputs, it will provide the science community with an extensive data set for investigating the sources and removal processes for trace metals from the surface ocean. The availability of this extensive data set also will facilitate collaboration with researchers investigating atmospheric deposition and modeling of transport and cycling of metals in the surface ocean. In addition, data on surface samples collected just prior to arrival on station and upon departure will provide an important check on the data from near surface samples collected with the GEOTRACES carousel sampling system close to the vicinity of the ship. This data will help confirm that all is well with the near surface carousel samples or, if needed, provide a mechanism to correct the near surface data from the carousel sampling system. Besides the surface water samples, an archive of about 528 samples from vertical profiles will be collected from each of the 22 standard or normal GEOTRACES full-depth profiles. Vertical profiles of the trace metals will be analyzed at the 6 "super stations" to facilitate an intercomparison study with other GEOTRACES analysts to ensure quality control between our surface water data and the vertical profile data for the various key GEOTRACES trace metals. As regards broader impacts, the researcher will continue his trace metal intercalibration efforts by providing the chemical oceanography community with reference samples and baseline data for these samples which benefits not only U.S. scientists but the international community as well. Six months of a postdoc's salary will be supported by this project with the remaining funds provided by the EU GEOTRACES program.