Interdependence of Trace Metal Speciation and Phytoplankton Dynamics in the Eastern North Pacific

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9416606 BRULAND Although chemical and biological oceanographers have known for several decades that the dynamics of many trace elements, especially the bioactive trace metals, and the population dynamics of the phytoplankton are intimately interrelated, few studies have succeeded in establishing cause-and-effect relationships between them. In this study, an internationally preeminent marine trace metal geochemist will address this question by studying the interactions between four trace metals-- iron, manganese, copper, and zinc -- with phytoplankton communities off the coasts of California and British Columbia. Because these are areas where deep nutrient-and-metal-rich water is upwelled to the surface, the principal investigator will be able to sample the plankton, the four trace metals (and their various chemical forms, or "species"), along transects extending from the low-productivity oceanic zone far from shore, across the high-production upwelling zone and its environs, and into the nearshore zone. By studying the cruise-track variations in water chemistry and plankton community composition and productivity, the PI will attempt to elucidate how phytoplankton productivity relates to the phytoplankton blooms impact trace metal chemistry.