First GEOTRACES Taiwanese test cruise will sail in the Western Philippine Sea

The first Taiwanese GEOTRACES test cruise will be carried out during 14-23 July 2013 in the Western Philippine Sea by using the modern 2,700 ton research vessel, Ocean Research 5 (OR/5). The studied sites are shown in the Figure below. The major objectives are to evaluate the sampling capability of OR/5 for trace metal clean sampling, to investigate the cycling and distribution of trace elements and their isotopes in the West Philippine Sea, and to determine the trace metal composition and fluxes in size-fractionated suspended particles and plankton, sinking particles and aerosols. Thirty scientists from 12 laboratories will join the cruise, including the researchers from Xiamen University, HKUST, UC Santa Cruz, and the other 9 labs from Taiwanese research institutes. The 2nd Taiwanese GEOTRACES cruise will be carried out in March 2014 in the Western Philippine Sea.

Figure: 1st GEOTRACES Taiwanese test cruise track. The station 8 will be a GEOTRACES crossover station. 
Click here to see the figure in higher resolution.

PI: Tung-Yuan Ho, Academia Sinica (China-Taipei).