Goldschmidt 2025
July 6 – July 11
Prague, Czech Republic
Goldschmidt is the foremost annual, international conference on geochemistry and related subjects, organized by the Geochemical Society and the European Association of Geochemistry.
We draw your attention to the following GEOTRACES sessions:
The deadline for abstract submission is 26 February 2025.
List of GEOTRACES and GEOTRACES-related sessions:
*12a – Elemental Enigmas: Cracking the Code of Trace Metals in Polar Oceans
The cycling of trace metals in polar oceans is crucial for understanding biogeochemical processes and ecosystem health in these sensitive environments. Trace metals such as Fe, Zn, Ni, Mn, and Co are essential micronutrients that regulate phytoplankton productivity across vast regions of the global ocean, notably the Southern Ocean and Arctic, significantly impacting carbon cycling between ocean and atmosphere. In contrast, toxic elements such as Hg which is of special concern in Arctic, are posing potential environmental risks. Polar regions act as critical zones for ocean-atmosphere interactions, with trace metal inputs from sea ice, icebergs, weathering, melting permafrost, hydrothermal activity, continental shelf sediments, and atmospheric deposition altering primary production. Trace metal isotopes and other means such as rare earth element composition have revolutionized our ability to trace the sources, pathways, and biogeochemical processes of trace metals in the ocean. These tools allow us to distinguish external input and disentangle biogeochemical processes such as biological uptake, particle‐solution exchange, and remineralization, and provide insights into past ocean conditions.
However, the remoteness, extreme weather, and technical challenges in clean sampling and trace metal analysis hinder our understanding of their cycling in the rapidly changing polar oceans. Enhancing our knowledge of these understudied regions is critical, as polar seas and the cryosphere act as precursors for global changes in other ecosystems. To this end, this session invites research integrating isotopic, trace metal data, and biogeochemical models to explore sources, cycling, and biological responses, advancing predictions of polar ocean impacts on climate change.
Conveners:
Hung-An Tian
Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung
Saša Marcinek
Ruder Boskovic Institute
Rhiannon Jones
British Antarctic Survey
*12e – Tracing marine trace element dynamics: impact of external sources and oceanic cycling
Trace elements and isotopes (TEIs) in the ocean play pivotal roles in primary productivity, carbon cycling, and marine biodiversity, and serve as powerful tracers of oceanic processes. To reliably apply these geochemical proxies, it is essential to develop a thorough understanding of the oceanic distribution of TEIs and physical and chemical processes that influence these patterns. The processes that influence the oceanic TEI distribution include inputs from various sources (e.g., river-estuarine, atmospheric deposition, submarine groundwater discharge, hydrothermal inputs and marine benthic dynamics) and oceanic internal cycling (biological uptake and remineralization, reversible scavenging, particle-water interaction, redox conditions, and ocean circulation). Since the start of the GEOTRACES program, observational TEI datasets have been rapidly accumulating, providing valuable resources to the state-of-the-art ocean modeling tools to test hypotheses and predict distributions in regions that are still poorly constrained. This knowledge not only offers significant insights into the debate about the controls of modern ocean chemistry but also aids in resolving discrepancies arising from conflicting paleo-records of multiple geochemical proxies.
This session invites contributions from observational, experimental, and modeling studies specifically focusing on (i) understanding the TEI distribution, species, and bio-availability in the ocean in connection to various sources and internal cycling, (ii) the impact of processes at oceanic boundaries (atmosphere, land, shelf, hydrothermal vents) on oceanic TEI distributions, (iii) new insights into the processes of open ocean cycling, (iv) application of AI/ML and other modeling techniques in assessing the marine TEI distribution. We encourage submissions based on multi-disciplinary and multi-proxy approaches.
Conveners:
Kai Deng
Tongji University
Vineet Goswami
Physical Research Laboratory
Antao Xu
Heidelberg University
Sunil Singh
CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography
*12g – Seafloor hydrothermal processes and their impacts on the modern and ancient Earth
Seafloor hydrothermal systems have profoundly influenced Earth’s biosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere throughout Earth history and serve as crucial pathways for the transfer of materials and energy between the lithosphere and the exosphere (biosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere) today. Nonetheless, hydrothermal systems’ nature within the oceanic crust drastically limits the temporal extent of direct geologic observations of their existence. Thus, attempts to correlate seafloor hydrothermal processes with biological evolution, global elemental budgets, and global redox states throughout Earth history generally require interdisciplinary efforts that integrate studies of modern systems, interpretations of the geologic record, novel laboratory experiments, and numerical models. Specific focuses could include the role of seafloor hydrothermalism in carbon and other elemental cycles, studies of the linkages between high and low temperature hydrothermal alteration, crustal mineralogy, and seawater geochemistry, and the relation between hydrothermal systems and the tempos and milestones of biological evolution. Submissions from early career researchers are especially welcome.
Conveners
Benjamin M. Tutolo
The University of Calgary
Wenhao Wang
Sun Yat-sen University
Drew Syverson
UNC Charlotte
Keynote Speaker
John Jamieson
Department of Earth Science, Memorial University of Newfoundland
To submit an abstract please follow the instructions available here:
https://conf.goldschmidt.info/goldschmidt/2025/cfp.cgi
If you wish your session to be included in this list, please send an e-mail to ipo@geotraces.org