ASLO 2015, Aquatic Sciences Meeting

ASLO 2015, Aquatic Sciences Meeting
Dates: 22-27 February 2015
Location: Granada, Spain

For further information: http://www.aslo.org/meetings/index.html

GEOTRACES sessions:

142 – Chemical Oceanography/GEOTRACES
Organizer: Andrea Kochinsky, Jacobs University Bremen.

037 – The Molecular Ecology of Metal-Microbe Interactions in the Ocean Environment
Organizers: Robert Strzepek, The Australian National University; Maite Maldonado, The University of British Columbia; and Yeala Shaked, The Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

Trace metals are essential for life, catalysing key cellular reactions such as photosynthesis and nutrient assimilation at the molecular level. The interactions between trace metals and ocean biota are reciprocal: not only do the metals control the productivity and distribution of microbes, but also these organisms regulate the distributions, chemical speciation, and the biogeochemical cycling of these metals. With the advent of new high-resolution geochemical data from the international GEOTRACES program (www.geotraces.org), it is timely to consider recent advances in our understanding of the diversity of ways that the ocean biota acquire, use, and cycle trace elements in the ocean. There has been an explosive expansion of techniques in analytical chemistry, molecular biology, physiology and “omics” that has the potential to develop a mechanistic understanding of trace metal acquisition, cellular function, and the interactive effects of metals with changing environmental factors, such as light, temperature and pH. This session invites contributions that consider trace metal-biota interactions from a variety of perspectives. Presentations that strive to develop a mechanistic understanding of key cellular processes involving metals are encouraged.

GEOTRACES-relevant sessions:

014 – Atmospheric Deposition Effects in Aquatic Ecosystems 
Organizers: Francesc Peters, Institut de Ciéncies del Mar (CSIC), Barak Herut, National Institute of Oceanography, Adina Paytan, Institute of Marine Sciences, Cecile Guieu, Laboratoire d’oceanographie de Villefranche, Ana M Aguilar-Islas, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Clifton Buck, Skidaway Institute of Oceanography and Simon Usher, University of Plymouth.

Atmospheric aerosols including mineral dust, anthropogenic particles, gases and particles from volcanic eruptions, and biogenic materials are continuously deposited into water bodies throughout the world. The deposition of aerosols into aquatic systems contributes many dissolved and particulate constituents including inorganic nutrients, organic matter, trace metals, toxins, pollen, spores, bacteria and viruses. These inputs change the chemistry and impact the ecosystems of receiving waters, including the dynamics of phytoplankton and bacteria. The impacts vary considerably depending on the sources, composition and bioavailability of the aerosols, the chemical, biological and ecological characteristics of the receiving water body and the timing of deposition. We welcome contributions studying the effects of aerosols of diverse origin in aquatic systems, especially in relation to ecosystem dynamics and functioning and the interplay with global changes. Approaches may include experimentation, observations, and theoretical and modeling efforts with timeframes comprising from ecological to geological scales.