First major ocean sections of silicon isotopes
The GEOTRACES programme is providing the first major ocean sections of silicon isotopes, δ30Si, aiding efforts to use this proxy to reconstruct diatom silica production in both the modern and […]
Science Highlights
Some recent GEOTRACES science findings are reported below.
Insights into Particle Cycling from Thorium and Particle Data
Phoebe Lam and Olivier Marchal (2015, see reference below) propose to describe, with the same model, the dynamics of particles in the oceanic water column and its effects –on four […]
Shallow methylmercury production in the marginal sea ice zone of the central Arctic Ocean
Understanding persistent high levels of mercury in arctic biota has been an elusive goal for nearly two decades. Little is known about where exactly inorganic Hg inputs into the Arctic […]
Two GEOTRACES works question the present ocean chemical elements budgets
New revelations on the land-ocean flux of chemical elements are presented in two different papers highlighting the value of the ocean isotopic data. Both works reveal that the present quantification […]
Thorium and protactinium radionuclides reveal marine particles processes
Thanks to the compilation of thorium-230 (230Th) and protactinium-231 (231Pa) data obtained along north-south and east-west transoceanic sections (in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans), Hayes and co-workers (2015, see reference […]
Submarine Groundwater Discharge as a major source of nutrients in the Mediterranean Sea
The authors are proposing a radium-228 (228Ra) isotope mass balance for the upper Mediterranean Sea to estimate the magnitude of Submarine Groundwater Discharge (SGD) to this basin. Radium isotopes have […]
A new method to measure lead isotopes in the ocean with an outstanding precision
A new method for the determination of seawater lead (Pb) isotope compositions and concentrations was developed, which combines and optimizes previously published protocols for the separation and isotopic analysis of […]
How to constrain the biogeochemical cycle of cobalt in the surface Western Atlantic Ocean?
Cobalt (Co) is an important micronutrient for many species living in the surface waters (bacteria, cyanobacteria, different types of phytoplancton…). Interestingly, the Co requirements vary between the different species and […]
New neodymium data in the North East Atlantic Ocean allow progressing on the behaviour of this geochemical tracer
High-resolution vertical profiles of neodymium (Nd) concentrations and isotopic compositions were measured at the eastern part of the US GEOTRACES North Atlantic Zonal Transect (GA03, Gulf of Cadiz – Mauritanian […]