Collaborative Research: US GEOTRACES Sampling Systems and Intercalibration

海洋微量元素及其同位素可以作为营养物、污染物和各种海洋过程的示踪剂或代用物。GEOTRACES项目是一项国际倡议，旨在确定控制海洋中关键微量元素及其同位素（TEI）的全球分布和生物地球化学循环的过程。来自世界各地的实验室和机构将参与完成整个海洋盆地的采样样带，以实现GEOTRACES的科学目标。然而，在进行海洋样带之前，必须完成采样、分析和建模技术的相互校准，以获得GEOTRACES程序的最佳精度和准确性。来自老道明大学、圣克鲁斯加州大学和罗格斯大学的海洋学家提议提供必要的基础设施和组织，以支持尽可能多的美国和国际科学家的参与。主要研究人员特别建议通过开发和测试美国GEOTRACES采样系统和tei程序来解决美国GEOTRACES相互校准问题。利用这些系统，主要研究人员打算对GEOTRACES TEIs的溶解相和颗粒相进行彻底的相互校准，并在北大西洋西部和北太平洋东部建立GEOTRACES基线站。这些结果将被记录并用于创建“美国GEOTRACES用户手册和程序”，用于未来美国赞助的GEOTRACES巡航。GEOTRACES基础设施的发展对海洋学和公共社区都有重大影响。用户手册的开发对于美国的科学家和那些资源很少、无法投入基础海洋学研究的欠发达国家的科学家来说是非常宝贵的。通过完成GEOTRACES倡议的第一阶段，海洋学界将更好地了解海洋微量元素循环过程及其对不断变化的环境条件的敏感性。

Oceanic trace elements and their isotopes can function as nutrients, contaminants, and tracers or proxies of various oceanographic processes. The GEOTRACES program was developed as an international initiative designed to determine the processes that control the global distributions and biogeochemical cycles of key trace elements and their isotopes (TEI) throughout the ocean. Laboratories and institutions from around the world will be involved in completing sampling transects across ocean basins to achieve the scientific objectives of GEOTRACES. However, before performing ocean transects, intercalibration of sampling, analytical, and modeling techniques must be completed to attain the best precision and accuracy for the GEOTRACES program. Oceanographers from Old Dominion University, the University of California in Santa Cruz, and Rutgers University proposed to provide the infrastructure and organization required to support the participation by as many U.S. and international scientists as possible. The principle investigators specifically propose to address the U.S. GEOTRACES intercalibration through development and testing of the U.S. GEOTRACES sampling systems and procedures for TEIs. Using these systems, the principle investigators intend to conduct a thorough intercalibration for the dissolved and particulate phases of the GEOTRACES TEIs and establish GEOTRACES Baseline Stations in the western North Atlantic and eastern North Pacific Oceans. These results would be documented and utilized to create the "US GEOTRACES Users Manuals and Procedures" for future US-sponsored GEOTRACES cruises. The development of a GEOTRACES infrastructure is significant in impact to both the oceanographic and public community. The development of users' manuals will be invaluable to scientists in the US and to those in less-developed countries with few resources to devote to basic oceanographic research. By completing the first phase of the GEOTRACES initiative, the oceanographic community will have a better understanding of the processes involved in oceanic trace-element cycles and their sensitivity to changing environmental conditions.