Logistical support for the continuation of the US GEOTRACES N Atlantic Basin section (shipboard trace elements).

University Of Hawaii, Honolulu

Investigators

Abstract

The U.S. GEOTRACES North Atlantic zonal section cruise was scheduled for 15 October through 5 December 2010. Because of a major irresolvable mechanical failure of the ship's propulsion system, the expedition had to be terminated in the Cape Verde Islands on 4 November after completing about one third of the planned track. This required on-the-spot changes in return travel for all sea-going investigators as well as in shipping arrangements for all their samples and equipment. The funds requested in this proposal address the PI's need to cover travel and shipping cost associated with his participation in the continuation of the North Atlantic section cruise scheduled for autumn 2011. The travel costs would ensure that two people can participate in the second cruise, as well as for one person to travel to Woods Hole to demobilize the ship upon its return to port. Shipping costs are needed to get a shipboard container with analytical instrumentation, a CTD, and GO-FLO bottles to the ship and back to the University of Hawaii. Completing the analysis of dissolved Fe, Al, Cd, Mn, and Zn recovered from different oceanographic regimes of the North Atlantic Ocean would significantly further our understanding of the biogeochemical cycles of these elements in the marine environment.