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Biogeochemical Cycles and Life in the Oceans

In the oceans, physical forcing (solar input) drives the distribution and chemical composition of water masses which strongly influence biological productivity. Reciprocally, oceanic biota affect the physical and chemical properties of seawater. EOS research in biogeochemistry seeks to understand the interactions between ocean physics, chemistry and biology, by integrating our strengths in each of these sub-disciplines.

While EOS research in geophysical fluid dynamics contributes a better understanding of heat and energy transport in oceanic water masses, the research in biogeochemistry examines how the physical movement of seawater (both horizontally and vertically) is coupled spatially and temporally to biological production. As an example, one area of particular interest is the extent to which tidal mixing in estuaries affects nutrient and light availability for phytoplankton (single celled photosynthetic organisms), as well as the distribution of zooplankton (small animals which feed on the phytoplankton). Other key areas of interest include the effects of water circulation rates on subsurface oxygen concentrations and the role of various physical processes in partitioning biologically produced gases across the air-sea interface.

From a chemical perspective, our research is focused on developing new analytical methods to examine the spatial and temporal distribution of elements and molecules in seawater. We are interested in measuring the total concentration and isotopic composition of a wide range of analytes, including various transition metals, trace gases and dissolved organic compounds. We are also investigating the production of a number of important biomolecules-including harmful toxins and beneficial therapeutics-produced by a variety of marine organisms. In addition to their intrinsic biochemical importance, these biogenic compounds also provide clues about the past and present environmental conditions experienced by marine organisms.

As we continue to develop new oceanographic measurement approaches, we are also refining our interpretations of the physical and chemical observations we make. We seek to understand qualitatively and quantitatively how biological processes (e.g. photosynthesis, respiration, denitrification etc.) can affect the distributions of key elements in seawater, and the fluxes of matter between the ocean, atmosphere and lithosphere. Much of this work is based upon numerical models that assimilate physical, chemical and biological data, and reproduce observed patterns based upon prescribed mechanistic relationships. As we improve our ability to model chemical distributions in the oceans, we can begin to use these chemical signatures to yield information on key biological processes.

Much of this research focuses on the direct measurement of biological activity in marine waters. Collectively, we examine the factors that regulate the productivity and biological diversity of viruses, bacteria, phytoplankton and zooplankton, and the controls on energy flow between these trophic levels. Our work has examined how natural and anthropogenic climate change may affect the activities of individual organisms and the structure of entire oceanic communities.

Signpost Contributions

  • Ianson D, Allen SE, Harris SL, Orians KJ, Varela DE, Wong CS (2003) The inorganic carbon system in the coastal upwelling region west of Vancouver Island, Canada. Deep-Sea Research Part I-Oceanographic Research Papers, 50 (8), 1023-1042.
  • Allen SE, Vindeirinho C, Thomson RE, Foreman MGG, Mackas DL (2001) Physical and biological processes over a submarine canyon during an upwelling event. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 58 (4), 671-684.
  • Ianson D and Allen SE (2002) A two-dimensional nitrogen and carbon flux model in a coastal upwelling region. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 16 (1), article no. 1011.
  • DiBacco C and Levin LA (2000) Development and application of elemental fingerprinting to track marine invertebrate larvae. Limnology and Oceanography, 45 (4), 871-880.
  • DiBacco C, and Chadwick DB (2001) Use of Elemental Fingerprinting to Assess Net Flux and Exchange of Brachyuran Larvae between Regions of San Diego Bay, California and Nearshore Coastal Habitats. Journal of Marine Research, 59, 53-78.
  • Francois R, Honjo S, Krishfield R, and Manganini S (2002) Factors controlling the flux of organic carbon to the bathypelagic zone of the ocean. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 16 (4), 1087.
  • Healey MC (Ed) (1999) Seeking Sustainability in the Lower Fraser Basin: Issues and Choices. Institute for Resources and Environment, University of B.C. Press.
  • Healey MC (2000) Pacific salmon migrations in a dynamic ocean. In P Harrison and T Parsons, Eds, Fisheries Oceanography: an integrative approach to fisheries ecology and management, p. 29-60. Blackwell, Oxford.
  • Hennessey T and Healey MC (2000) Ludwig's ratchet and the collapse of New England groundfish stocks. Coastal Management, 28, 187-213.
  • Healey MC, Lake R, and Hinch SG (2003) Energy expenditures during reproduction by sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka). Behaviour, 140, 161-182.
  • Maldonado MT and Price NM (2001) Reduction and transport of organically bound iron by Thalassiosira oceanica (Bacillariophyceae). Journal Phycology, 37 (2), 298-309.
  • Ross ARS, Ikonomou MG, Orians KJ (2003) Characterization of copper-complexing ligands in seawater using immobilized copper(Il)-ion affinity chromatography and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. Marine Chemistry, 83, 47-58.
  • Kaehler S, Pakhomov EA, and McQuaid CD (2000) Trophic structure of the marine food web at the Prince Edward Islands (Southern Ocean) as determined by 13C and 15N analysis. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 208, 13-20.
  • Pakhomov EA, Froneman PW, and Perissinotto R (2002) Salp/krill interactions in the Southern Ocean: spatial segregation and implications for the carbon flux. Deep-Sea Research II, 49 (9-10), 1881-1907.
  • Pakhomov EA, McClelland JW, Bernard K, Kaehler S, and Montoya JP (2004) Spatial and temporal shifts in stable isotope values of bottom-dwelling shrimp Nauticaris marionis at the sub-Antarctic archipelago. Marine Biology, 144, 317-325.
  • Short SM and Suttle CA (2002) Sequence analysis of marine virus communities reveals that groups of related algal viruses are widely distributed in nature. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 68, Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 68(3), 1290-1296.
  • Wilhelm SW and Suttle CA (1999) Viruses and Nutrient Cycles in the Sea - Viruses play critical roles in the structure and function of aquatic food webs. Bioscience, 49 (10), 781-788.
  • Culley AI, Lang AS, and Suttle CA (2003) High diversity of unknown picorna-like viruses in the sea. Nature, 424 (6952), 1054-1057.
  • Tortell PD (2004) Dissolved gas measurements in oceanic waters made by membrane inlet mass spectrometry. Methods (in press).
  • Tortell PD, DiTullio GR, Sigman DM, et al. (2002) CO2 effects on taxonomic composition and nutrient utilization in an Equatorial Pacific phytoplankton assemblage Marine Ecology-Progress Series, 236, 37-43.
  • Verheyden S, Keppens E, Fairchild I, Mc Dermott F, and Weis D (2000) Sr isotope geochemistry of a Belgian Holocene speleothem: implications for paleoclimate reconstructions. Chemical Geology, 169, 131-144.
  • Fagel N, Humblet M, Brasseur R, Weis D, Stevenson R (2004) Nd and Pb isotope signatures of the clay-size fraction of Labrador Sea sediments during the Holocene: Implications for the inception of modern deep circulation pattern. Paleoceanography, 19, PA3002, doi:10.1029/2003PA000993.

Milestone Contributions

(* - more than 25; ** - more than 50; *** more than 100 citations.)

*** Calvert SE (1976) The mineralogy and geochemistry of near-shore sediments. In JP Riley and R Chester, Eds, Chemical Oceanography, 2nd Edition, 6, 187-280. Academic press.
*** Pedersen TF and Calvert SE (1990) Anoxia vs. productivity: What controls the formation of organic-carbon-rich sediments and sedimentary rocks? American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin, 74, 454-466.
*** Calvert SE and Pedersen TF (1993) Geochemistry of Recent oxic and anoxic marine sediments: Implications for the geological record. Marine Geology, 113, 67-88.
*** Altabet MA and Francois R (1994) Sedimentary nitrogen isotopic ratio as a recorder for surface ocean nitrate utilization. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 8, 103-116.
** Francois R, Altabet MA, Goericke R, McCorkle DC, Brunet C, and Poisson A (1993) Changes in the d13C of surface water particulate organic matter across the subtropical convergence in the S.W. Indian Ocean. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 7, 627-644.
*Harvey M, Bourget E, and Ingram RG (1995) Influence of substratum heterogeneity on the settlement of marine bivalve on filamentous epibenthic structures -experimental evidence of passive microhabitat selection. Limnology and Oceanography, 40, 94-104.
*Lewis AG and Cave WR (1982) The biological importance of copper in oceans and estuaries. Oceanography and Marine Biology: An Annual Review, 10, 471-695.
*Wells M, Zorkin N, and Lewis AG (1983) The role of colloid chemistry in providing a source of iron to phytoplankton. Journal of Marine Research, 41, 731-746.
*Mackas DL, Goldblatt R, and Lewis AG (1998) Interdecadal variation in developmental timing of Neocalanus plumchrus populations at Ocean Station P in the subarctic North Pacific. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 55, 1878-1893.
***Boyd PW, Watson AJ, Law CS, Abraham ER, Trull T, Murdoch R, Bakker DCE, Bowie AR, Buesseler KO, Chang H, Charette M, Croot P, Downing K, Frew R, Gall M, Hadfield M, Hall J, Harvey M, Jameson G, LaRoche J, Liddicoat M, Ling R, Maldonado MT, McKay RM, Nodder S, Pickmere S, Pridmore R, Rintoul S, Safi K, Sutton P, Strzepek R, Tanneberger K, Turner S, Waite A, and Zeldis J (2000) A mesoscale phytoplankton bloom in the polar Southern Ocean stimulated by iron fertilization. Nature, 407 (6805), 695-702.
*Maldonado MT and Price NM (1999) Utilization of iron bound to strong organic ligands by plankton communities in the subarctic Pacific Ocean. Deep-Sea Research II, 46 (11-12), 2447-2473.
**Orians KJ and Bruland KW (1986) The biogeochemistry of aluminum in the Pacific Ocean. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 78, 397-410.
**Boyd PW, Muggli DL, Varela DE, Goldblatt RH, Chrétien R, Orians KJ, and Harrison PJ (1996) In vitro iron enrichment experiments in the NE subarctic. Pacific Marine Ecology Progress Series, 36, 179-193.
*Ross ARS, Ikonomou MG, Thompson JAJ, and Orians KJ (1998) Determination of dissolved metal species by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. Analytical Chemistry, 70, 2225-2235.
**Pakhomov EA and McQuaid CD (1996) Distribution of surface zooplankton and seabirds across the Southern Ocean. Polar Biology, 16, 271-286.
*Perissinotto R and Pakhomov EA (1996) Gut evacuation rates and pigment destruction in the Antarctic krill Euphausia superba. Marine Biology, 125, 47-54.
*Pakhomov EA, Perissinotto R, and McQuaid CD (1996) Prey composition and daily rations of myctophid fishes in the Southern Ocean. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 134, 1-14.
***Suttle CA (1994) The Significance Of Viruses To Mortality In Aquatic Microbial Communities Source. Microbial Ecology, 28 (2), 237-243.
***Suttle CA and Feng C (1992) Mechanisms And Rates Of Decay Of Marine Viruses In Seawater. Applied And Environmental Microbiology, 58 (11), 3721-3729.
***Suttle CA, Chan AM, and Cottrell MT (1990) Infection Of Phytoplankton By Viruses And Reduction Of Primary Productivity Source. Nature 347 (6292), 467-469.
***Taylor FJR (1980) On dinoflagellate evolution. BioSystems, 13(1), 1-44.
***Harrison PJ, Waters RE, and Taylor FJR (1980) A broad spectrum artificial seawater medium for coastal and open ocean phytoplankton. Journal of Phycology, 16, 28-35.
***Montagnes DJS, Berges JA, Harrison PJ, and Taylor FJR (1994) Estimating carbon, nitrogen, protein, and chlorophyll a from volume in marine phytoplankton. Limnology and Oceanography, 39 (5), 1044-1060.
**Tortell PD, Maldonado MT, and Price NM (1996) The role of heterotrophic bacteria in iron-limited ocean ecosystems. Nature, 383 (6598), 330-332.
*Tortell PD, Reinfelder JR, and Morel FMM (1997) Active uptake of bicarbonate by diatoms. Nature, 390 (6657), 243-244.
*Tortell PD, Rau GH, and Morel FMM (2000) Inorganic carbon acquisition in coastal Pacific phytoplankton communities. Limnology and Oceanography 45 (7), 1485-1500.
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