Project: FeCycle II- Natural variability in plankton iron quotas during an unamended Lagrangian experiment

from the NSF proposal abstract

In this project, researchers at the University of Southern California, University of Tennessee Knoxville and the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences will study oceanic micronutrient dynamics as part of the September 2008 FeCycle II project sponsored by NIWA New Zealand. The international team will investigate the natural cycling of the micronutrient iron (Fe) and other trace elements in relation to carbon and nutrient biogeochemistry. FeCycle II is a unique concept, since it is a Langrangian study that will follow an SF6-labeled patch without added Fe. The U.S. team will join this effort in order to compare and contrast the quotas of Fe and other trace elements in plankton using parallel techniques that include high-speed sorting flow cytometry and ultrafiltration coupled to ICP-MS, Fe and C radiotracers, and synchrotron x-ray fluorescence. Together, these will provide multiple independent assessments of the geochemical plasticity of Fe quotas. Building on the highly successful FeCycle I study, this work should improve our understanding of the linkages between the biogeochemistry and large-scale distribution of Fe and the global carbon cycle, within the context of this interdisciplinary international effort.