This special issue of Oceanography celebrates the transformational findings of the international GEOTRACES program in chemical oceanography, 20 years after drafting of the GEOTRACES Science Plan in 2004 (GEOTRACES Planning Group, 2006). With the section cruise phase of the program ending soon, and a planned pivot toward smaller-scale process studies, this is an opportune time to look back at the achievements of GEOTRACES during the last two decades and to highlight some of the advances in our understanding of the processes that determine the oceanic distributions of trace elements and isotopes (TEIs).
Three-Minute Videos to Learn About Marine Geochemistry
The international GEOTRACES program (https://www.geotraces.org/) is a marine geochemical project involving scientists from more than 35 countries that aims to improve understanding of trace elements and their isotopes in the marine environment (Anderson, 2024, in this issue). However, terms such as trace elements and isotopes can be very challenging concepts to communicate to a non-scientific audience. GEOTRACES scientists face this difficulty when explaining their research to the general public. To overcome it, the GEOTRACES International Project Office launched a series of short (about three minutes) educational videos aimed at introducing and explaining the science of the GEOTRACES program to the general public. These videos explain marine geochemical science and concepts such as trace elements and isotopes in an easy and fun format while keeping the scientific message accurate. They also constitute a powerful teaching resource and offer an accessible and appealing method for students to learn about marine geochemistry.
more » « less- Award ID(s):
- 2140395
- PAR ID:
- 10534314
- Publisher / Repository:
- The Oceanography Society
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Oceanography
- Volume:
- 37
- Issue:
- 2
- ISSN:
- 1042-8275
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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GEOTRACES is an international endeavor to elucidate the biogeochemical cycles of trace elements and their isotopes in the ocean. Inherently, this interdisciplinary program provides ample opportunities for students to develop professional, academic, and seagoing skills. This perspective recalls first-hand experiences gained from five years in the GEOTRACES community, spanning undergraduate and graduate research, including international engagement in Germany and seagoing oceanography in the South Pacific and Southern Ocean. Description of these opportunities reveals the framework that makes the GEOTRACES program a success and the culture that will ensure its ongoing legacy.
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null (Ed.)The biogeochemical cycles of trace elements and their isotopes (TEIs) constitute an active area of oceanographic research due to their role as essential nutrients for marine organisms and their use as tracers of oceanographic processes. Selected TEIs also provide diagnostic information about the physical, geological, and chemical processes that supply or remove solutes in the ocean. Many of these same TEIs provide information about ocean conditions in the past, as their imprint on marine sediments can be interpreted to reflect changes in ocean circulation, biological productivity, the ocean carbon cycle, and more. Other TEIs have been introduced as the result of human activities and are considered contaminants. The development and implementation of contamination-free methods for collecting and analyzing samples for TEIs revolutionized marine chemistry, revealing trace element distributions with oceanographically consistent features and new insights about the processes regulating them. Despite these advances, the volume and geographic coverage of high-quality TEI data by the end of the twentieth century were insufficient to constrain their global biogeochemical cycles. To accelerate progress in this field of research, marine geochemists developed a coordinated international effort to systematically study the marine biogeochemical cycles of TEIs—the GEOTRACES program. Following a decade of planning and implementation, GEOTRACES launched its main field effort in 2010. This review, roughly midway through the field program, summarizes the steps involved in designing the program, its management structure, and selected findings.more » « less
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The international GEOTRACES program was developed to enhance knowledge about the distribution of trace elements and their isotopes (TEIs) in the ocean and to reduce the uncertainty about their sources, sinks, and internal cycling. Recognizing the importance of intercalibration from the outset, GEOTRACES implemented intercalibration efforts early in the program, and consensus materials were generated that included the full range of TEIs dissolved in seawater, in suspended particles, and from aerosols. The GEOTRACES section cruises include “crossover station(s)” that are occupied by two or more sections and whereby all aspects of sample collection, preservation, and processing can be compared and intercalibrated. Once datasets are generated, an international intercalibration committee reviews intercalibration reports and works with the community to address issues and provide intercalibrated data for intermediate data products. This process has resulted in a highly cooperative community that shares advances in protocols to strengthen capacity building and GEOTRACES outcomes, including an unprecedented oceanic atlas of TEIs, with data quality that is state-of-the-art. This article outlines the development and implementation of the successful GEOTRACES intercalibration process.
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The various isotopes of thorium offer oceanographers tools for tracking particulate matter in the ocean across multiple timescales. To learn about the cycling of trace elements in the ocean, in this perspective we focus on the latest applications of thorium’s longest-lived naturally occurring isotopes: 232Th, 230Th, 228Th, and 234Th. From desert dust to marine snow to sediment porewaters, thorium measurements can be used to derive rates of trace element input and removal, using the assumptions of radioactive disequilibrium. Opportunities exist to fine tune and improve the application of these already versatile stopwatches, but GEOTRACES-era data clearly demonstrate their utility.
- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.5670/oceanog.2024.401
