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IMBER Update
Issue No. 6 - March 2007
Contents
Editorial
IPCC report p.1
Science highlight
Global surface ocean alka­
linity climatology p. 2
Regional activities
Southern Ocean science
during the International Polar
Year - ICED p. 4
National activities
Chinese IMBER/GLOBEC p. 6
Korea: Research activities on
CO2 cycle in the oceans p. 8
IMBER workshops and
meetings
CLIOTOP Symposium
p. 9
International Conference on
The Humboldt Current Sys­
tem
p. 9
Workshop on ocean acidi­
fication: Learning from the
Distant Past
p. 11
Austral Summer Institute VII in
Chile
p. 13
Sponsored participants news
p. 14
Partner Programmes
SOLAS: An ocean-atmos­
phere observatory in the eas­
tern tropical Atlantic Ocean
p. 14
Announcements p. 16
Related conferences
and workshops p. 20
IMBER is an international
project of IGBP and SCOR
Editorial
IMBER contribution to IPCC
scientific basis
By Sylvie Roy and Dennis Hansell1
1
RSMAS, Florida, USA
Human activities are rapidly altering Earth System processes that directly
and indirectly influence society. Informed decisions require an understanding
of which parts of the Earth System are most sensitive to change, and the nature and extent of anticipated impacts of global change. This new challenge
has led to the goal of IMBER, which is to investigate the sensitivity of marine biogeochemical cycles and ecosystems to global change on time scales
ranging from years to decades. Central to the IMBER goal is the development of a predictive understanding of how marine biogeochemical cycles
and ecosystems respond to complex forcings, such as large-scale climatic
variations, and changes in physical dynamics and ocean chemistry.
Because it is such a complex and challenging issue, policymakers required
an objective source of information on the causes of climate changes, its
potential environmental and socio-economic impacts, and promising societal responses. To satisfy these requirements, the World Meteorological
Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environmental Programme
(UNEP) established the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
in 1988. The IPCC was charged with assessing the scientific, technical and
socio-economic factors required for understanding the risks of human-induced climate change, its potential impacts, and options for adaptation and
mitigation. The IPCC’s Second Assessment Report provided key input to
the negotiations leading to adoption of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997. More
recently, IPCC Working Group I has approved and adopted the Summary for
Policymakers entitled “Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis”.
This report describes progress in understanding the human and natural drivers of climate change, observed climate change, climate processes and attribution, and estimates of projected future climate change. It builds upon past
IPCC assessments and incorporates new findings based upon large amounts
of new, comprehensive data, more sophisticated analyses of data, improve-
IMBER Update
ments in understanding of processes and their simulation in models, and more extensive exploration of uncertainty ranges.
One conclusion of the Summary is
that humans have played a major
role in the observed global warming through the release of greenhouse gases. Global atmospheric
concentrations of carbon dioxide,
methane, and nitrous oxide have
increased markedly as a result
of human activities related primarily to fossil fuel consumption,
land-use changes, and agriculture
practices. Other indications of global warming at continental, regional, and ocean basin scales are
increases in global average air
and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice,
rising global average sea level,
as well as widespread changes in
precipitation, ocean salinity, wind
patterns and extreme weather.
Continued greenhouse gas emissions at or above current rates will
cause further warming and changes in the global climate system
during the 21st century. A major
improvement in the fourth IPCC
assessment for climate change
projections is the large number
of simulations from a broader
range of models. Taken together
with additional information from
observations and new insights
on the nature of feedbacks in the
carbon cycle, these model results
provide a quantitative basis for
estimating likelihoods for many
aspects of future climate change.
For example, there is higher
confidence in projected patterns
of warming and other regionalscale features, including changes
in wind patterns, precipitation,
and sea ice. However, long-term
changes in the meridional overturning circulation (MOC) of the
Issue No. 6 - March 2007
Atlantic Ocean cannot yet be assessed with confidence.
The new evidence presented in the
Summary confirms that the global
ocean is experiencing unprecedented stresses due to human
activities. These human-induced
changes have direct impacts on
marine physics, chemistry and biology that force rapid alterations
of Earth System processes, with
direct consequences for society.
One important theme of IMBER
research focuses on �������������
the roles of
ocean biogeochemistry and ecosystems in regulating climate. ����
The
most direct feedback from marine
biogeochemistry and ecosystems
to the Earth System will likely occur through oceanic regulation of
atmospheric CO2.
Predictions of how changes in
climate will affect marine biogeochemical cycles and ecosystems
will require a much better understanding of how climate-induced
changes will affect physical conditions such as circulation, ventilation and stratification in the ocean,
and how specific changes in these
physical conditions will affect processes important to biogeochemical
cycles and ecosystem structure.
IMBER will evaluate the effects of
Effect of increasing CO2 concentrations on surface seawater
Global atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide have increased
markedly as a result of human activities related primarily to fossil
fuel consuption. Continued greenhouse gas emissions at or above
current rates are expected to affect carbon system parmeters and
surface seawater pH also altering marine biogeochemical cycles or
ecosystems.
Surface seawater pHT values and atmospheric CO2 concentrations. Surface seawater pHT
values include 3000 values for 1990-2002 (from the upper 25 m across all oceans ) calculated from measured DIC and alkalinity; typical values for glacial times (blue), pre-industrial
times (green) and the present (orange); and predicted future values (red). Future values are
based on predicted atmospheric CO2. Atmospheric CO2 values are based on histroric measurements and an exponential future increase from simple scenario calculations. Prepared by
Arne ­ Körtzinger on the basis of WOCE data (Schlitzer, 2000) and published in the IMBER
Science Plan and Implementation Strategy.
IMBER Update Issue No. 6 - March 2007
changes in surface temperature
and light environment on marine
ecosystems, productivity, biodiversity, and biogeographical ranges.
IMBER will also investigate how
global changes in, for example,
ocean stratification, acidity or nutrient availability, will cascade
through marine ecosystems via
extreme and episodic events.
Earth System science has already contributed significantly to
the debate on climate and global change, predictions, projections and scenarios for the Earth
abound. However, the Working
Group I report shows that there is
a need for long term observations
and improved prediction tools.
Similarly, significant advances in
understanding the marine system
have been achieved using coupled models, but key questions
about the impacts and responses
of biogeochemical cycles and ecosystems to climate change remain
unanswered. IMBER will collaborate with international global environmental change programmes
(IHDP, WCRP and DIVERSITAS)
and other ocean science projects
through SCOR to increase our understanding of how the interactions
between marine biogeochemical
cycles and ecosystems respond
to, and force, global change.
Through publications and participation in working groups, IMBER
scientists will continue to contribute to the IPCC assessments and
will work to communicate Earth
System science to policymakers
and resource managers.
Science Highlight
Global surface
ocean alkalinity
climatology
Kitack Lee1, Lan T. Tong1, Frank
J. Millero2, Christopher L. Sabine3,
Andrew G. Dickson4, Catherine
Goyet5, Geun-Ha Park1, Richard A.
Feely3, Robert M. Key6
1
Pohang University of Science and
Technology, Korea
2
University of Miami, RSMAS, USA
3
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) Pacific Marine
Environmental Laboratory, USA
4
University of California, Scripps
Institution of Oceanography, USA
5
Université de Perpignan, France
6
Princeton University, Program
in Atmospheric and Oceanic
Science,USA
In many parts of the ocean
alkalinity (AT) data are severely limited compared to the sea surface
salinity (SSS) and temperature
(SST) data sets, which are
several orders of magnitude
larger. Therefore, determining the
global distribution of surface AT is
problematic. Empirical algorithms
that relate surface AT to SSS and
SST are particularly useful in
constructing the global distribution of AT when combined with the
global fields of SSS and SST.
The first set of global relationships
of salinity-normalized AT with SST
[Millero et al., 1998] was derived
using subsets (n = 1,740) of historical AT data as well as those col­
lected during the global carbon survey of the 1990s. Since the global
AT relationships first became available, a significant number of new
AT measurements have been added to the global data set. Recently,
Lee et al. [2006] used surface AT
measurements (n = 5,692) from
the Global Ocean Data Analysis
Project (GLODAP) v1.1 data set
[Key et al., 2004] to determine the
relationships of AT with SSS and
SST for different ocean regimes.
A function of SSS and SST in the
form
AT = a + b (SSS – 35) +
c(SSS – 35)2 + d (SST – 20) +
e (SST – 20)2
fits AT data for each of five oceanographic regimes within an areaweighted uncertainty of ±8.1 µmol
kg-1 (1σ).
The global distribution of surface
AT for August calculated using the
derived AT algorithms [Lee et al.,
2006] applied to climatological
SSS and SST fields [Conkright
et al., 2002] is shown in Figure 1.
The surface AT field shows broad
maxima in the central gyres
centered at about 25o north and
south of the Equator, similar to
the pattern for salinity. Poleward
of the tropics and subtropics, the
annual excess precipitation over
evaporation increases, and thus
salinity decreases, with latitude. As
a result, the values of AT generally
decrease with increasing latitude.
Seasonal changes in the intensity
of the convective mixing here are
additional key factors that act to
change surface AT in a measurable
way. During seasonal cooling, the
intensive vertical mixing brings
deep waters rich in CaCO3driven AT to the surface, and
thus increases surface AT. During
seasonal warming, however, the
shoaling of the mixed layer makes
the contribution of AT-rich deep
waters to the change in surface AT
minimal.
The magnitude of seasonal AT
variability (Figure 2) is directly
proportional to the seasonal
variations in salinity. Seasonal AT
variations are generally larger in
the tropics and subtropics than
IMBER Update
Issue No. 6 - March 2007
Regional activities
Southern Ocean
science during the
International Polar
Year
Figure 1. Global distribution of surface AT (µmol kg-1) for August for the world’s ocean.
White lines represent the approximate boundaries for the five different regions with
unique AT algorithms and the numerical numbers represent the five regions. Crosses
denote locations of sampling stations.
Rachel Cavanagh, British Antarctic
Survey, UK.
Carlos Garcia, Fundação
Universidade Federal do Rio Grande,
Brazil.
Figure 2. Distribution of the seasonal amplitude (maximum AT-MAX – minimum AT-MIN)
of surface AT predicted from the regional AT relationships given in Lee et al. [2006],
applied to monthly mean sea surface salinity and temperature fields.
in the higher-latitude oceans. In
particular, larger amplitudes of
seasonal variability are observed
in areas where freshwater inputs
through rivers (e.g. near the
Amazon River and the Bay of
Bengal) and the melting of ice
(e.g. near sea-ice edges) are
significant, or where tropical
upwelling occurs.
Finally, since the five regional AT
algorithms presented in Lee et al.
[2006] were derived from the most
comprehensive surface AT data
available, we propose that this
new set of AT equations should be
used for the prediction of surface
AT over large oceanic areas where
SSS and SST values are known.
References
Conkright, M. E. et al. (2002), World
Ocean Database 2001, vol. 1,
Introduction, edited by S. Levitus, NOAA
Atlas NESDIS 42, 167 pp., Natl. Oceanic
and Atmos. Admin., Silver Spring, Md.
Key, R. M., et al. (2004), A global ocean
carbon climatology: Results from Global
Data Analysis Project (GLODAP), Global
Biogeochem. Cycles, 18, doi:10.1029/
2004GB002247.
Lee, K., L. T. Tong, F. J. Millero, C. L.
Sabine, A. G. Dickson, C. Goyet, G.-H.
Park, R. Wanninkhof, R.A. Feely, and
R. M. Key (2006), Global relationships
of total alkalinity with salinity and
temperature in surface waters of the
world’s oceans, Geophys. Res. Lett., 33,
L19605, doi:10.1029/2006GL027207.
Millero, K. Lee, and M. Roche (1998),
Distribution of alkalinity in the surface
waters of the major oceans, Mar. Chem.,
60, 111-130.
International Polar Year (IPY)
The polar regions are critical components of the Earth System, influencing the rest of the planet in
physical terms, social and economic terms. The first International Polar Year (IPY) was in 18821883. In 1932-1933 a second IPY
occurred and in 1957-58 came the
International Geophysical Year
(IGY). These initiatives involved
an intense period of interdisciplinary research on the polar regions.
Fifty years on, the IPY 2007-09 has
been launched, the first time since
IGY that nations have collaborated
on this scale for polar studies.
IPY and Ocean Science
The role of the polar oceans in
the global climate system remains poorly understood. Over
40 IPY projects will focus on the
polar oceans, addressing a range
of important issues. For example,
oceanographers will be building
up a detailed picture of the wa-
IMBER Update Issue No. 6 - March 2007
ter masses; multi-ship surveys of
polar marine ecosystems will be
undertaken; polar influences on
global biogeochemical cycles (addressed through a combination of
models); ecological and economic
studies linked to develop strategies for sustainable management
of polar marine resources; and observations and integrated analyses
of climate-ocean-ecosystem interactions made across spatial and
temporal scales. The collection of
new comprehensive ocean data­
sets from both poles during IPY
will allow comparison with historic
observations and provide baselines for ecosystem management
and future predictions of change.
ICED-IPY
IPY encompasses more than 200
projects organised into clusters
based on disciplines. The international Integrating Climate and Ecosystem Dynamics in the Southern
Ocean (ICED) programme is leading a cluster: “ICED-IPY”, comprising 11 projects addressing “Ecosystems and Biogeochemistry of
the Southern Ocean”. The major
aim of ICED-IPY is to develop a
coordinated approach to furthering
our understanding of how Southern Ocean ecosystems operate on
a circumpolar scale.
We need to know more about how
the Southern Ocean ecosystem
works, but all too often researchers working in separate disciplines
and different parts of the Southern
Ocean don’t get the opportunity to
link up their ideas and form a bigger picture. ICED-IPY activities
(including data mining, fieldwork
and modelling) will further our understanding of ecosystem operation in the context of large-scale
climate processes, local-scale
ocean physics, biogeochemistry,
food web dynamics and anthropogenic forcing. These activities
include a number of ICED-IPY
cruises to investigate the mechanisms controlling biogeochemical
cycles and ecosystem structure in
the Southern Ocean. One of the
cruise programmes is featured
below. For further examples visit:
http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/Resources/BSD/ICED/index.htm
ICED-IPY is a multidisciplinary
collaboration between Australia,
­Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile,
China, Finland, France, ­Germany,
Japan, Korea, Netherlands, New
Zealand, Norway, Russia, Spain,
the United Kingdom and the ­United
States. ICED-IPY is working in
partnership with the Southern
Ocean System of the European
Network of Excellence for Ocean
Ecosystems
Analysis
(EUROCEANS), a Sixth Framework
Programme for Research and
Technological Development of the
European Community (http://www.
eur-oceans.eu/). Activities will also
be linked with other international
programmes and IPY projects, including Census of Antarctic Marine
Life (CAML), Climate in Antarctica
and the Southern Ocean (CASO),
GEOTRACES
and
Synoptic
­Antarctic Shelf-Slope Interactions
(SASSI).
SOS-CLIMATE
It was recently announced that the
Brazilian oceanographic contribu-
tion to IPY “Southern Ocean Studies for Understanding Global Climate Issues” (SOS-CLIMATE) will
be funded by the Brazilian Council
for Research and Scientific Development (CNPq). In addition to
ICED-IPY it will also contribute towards the following IPY projects:
SASSI, CASO and Collaborative
Research into Antarctic Calving
and ICeberg Evolution (CRACICE).
The field effort of SOS-CLIMATE
will cover shelf and shelf-slope regions across the Polar Front from
the Antarctic Peninsula region in
the south to the Patagonian Shelf
region in the north. Oceanographic cruises onboard the Ary Rongel
(Figure 1) are planned for March
2007, and the Austral summers
of 2007/2008 and 2008/2009 in
the following areas: (1) Brazil­Malvinas Confluence; (2) Patagonian shelf; (3) Bransfield and
­Gerlache Straits, and (4) northwestern Weddell Sea.
The first cruise will take place in
March 2007 in the Patagonian shelf
break area where strong phytoplankton blooms (Figure 2) occur.
These Sub-Antarctic waters are a
rich source of macro-­nutrients to
the frontal zone. Phytoplankton
Figure 1. The Brazilian Navy research vessel Ary Rongel
IMBER Update
Issue No. 6 - March 2007
Figure 2. MODIS Chlorophyll image composite for the period October 29-31, 2006 showing the strong phytoplankton blooms which
usually occur in Austral spring time along the Patagonia shelf-break area. During this period, 26 oceanographic stations (+) were
occupied in the area with the collection of physical, biological, bio-optical and chemical data. In March 2007, a 3rd experiment will be
conducted over the same region as part of the International Polar Year.
production is high and the uptake
of atmospheric CO2 is relatively
large compared to other Southern Ocean regions. The processes that cause the blooms are not
well known but could potentially
be fuelled by inputs of iron provided by dust from the Patagonian
desert. This study will investigate
the factors controlling the blooms;
characterize the phytoplankton assemblage and primary production
rates; determine the main nutrient
levels associated with the bloom
waters; determine their bio-­optical
characteristics; and measure
ocean-atmosphere fluxes of CO2
and the DMS content in the atmosphere. Understanding of bloom dynamics in this region is needed to
anticipate changes to the regional
carbon budget that may occur as a
result of climate change.
For more information visit http://
www.goal.ocfis.furg.br/
Summary
Improved understanding of how
Southern Ocean ecosystems respond to variability and change is
crucial to further our knowledge
of how climate, biogeochemical
and ecological processes interact
to influence the dynamics of polar
ocean ecosystems. This will also
be fundamental to high-level policy makers in the development of
Southern Ocean ecosystem conservation and management strategies. On an even bigger scale,
such information is important in
understanding the role of Southern Ocean systems as part of the
wider Earth System.
Communication and coordination
of scientific activities in the polar
regions is essential. IPY 2007-09
brings a timely opportunity to increase awareness and involvement in polar issues by decisionmakers, young scientists and the
general public. This time, technological developments such as
Earth-observation satellites, autonomous vehicles and molecular
biology techniques offer opportunities for huge steps forward in our
understanding. For more information visit http://www.ipy.org.
National activities
Chinese IMBER/
GLOBEC Program
progress: Dead
Zone survey
Ling Tong, Yellow Sea Fisheries
Research Institute, P.R. China
Jing Zhang, State Key Laboratory
of Estuarine and Coastal Research,
P.R. China
The new Chinese IMBER/
GLOBEC Program: “Key Proc­
esses and Sustainable Mechan­
isms of Ecosystem Food production in the Coastal ocean of China”
was launched at the Qingdao kickoff meeting in January 2006, and
will be implemented over 4 years
(2006-2010). Field research to collect physical, chemical and biological data is a key component of the
program in 2006 and 2007. The
IMBER Update Issue No. 6 - March 2007
research covers 6 themes, including coastal hypoxia processes off
the Changjiang Estuary, relationship between zooplankton and
high trophic levels, physical dynamics of wintering ground in the
East China Sea, physical dynamics of coastal spawning ground in
the East China Sea, red tide process, and ecological carrying capacity in typical mariculture areas.
A total of 140 days were spent in
2006 for sea-going observations,
including the Yellow Sea from west
to east, the southern portion of the
East China Sea and the coastal
environment off the Changjiang
Estuary. The survey of coastal hypoxia processes and mechanisms
off the Changjiang Estuary came
to an end in late 2006 and 5 other
survey themes will be carried out
sequentially in 2007. The ecological carrying capacity survey in a
typical mariculture area is currently taking place in Sanggouwan
Bay in the north and Xiangshan­
gang Bay in the south of China
(2006-2007).
August and October 2006, each
with ship-time of 15 days. These
cruises focussed on understanding the scientific issues raised by
biogeochemistry and food web dynamics in this area. In June 2006,
low dissolved oxygen (DO) waters
were found in the southern part of
Zhoushan Islands with a level of
DO up to ca. 4 mg.L-1 in near bottom waters, but the overall coast
off the Changjiang Estuary experienced no hypoxia. In August, low
DO waters were found in the northern part of the Changjiang Estuary,
with DO in near-bottom waters as
low as 1‑2 mg.L-1, accompanied
by stratification in water column.
In October the oxygen concentrations had increased in surface to
near-bottom waters as a result of
strong vertical mixing.
Nutrients show the eutrophic character of coastal waters affected by
the Changjiang ef­fluent plumes,
with a reduction in concentrations of nitrate and silicate and an
increase in salinity. However, in
near-bottom waters concentrations
Characteristic of dissolved oxygen observed off the Changjiang Estuary in 3 months in 2006
Nutrient over-enrichment of coastal
marine waters from land-based pollution is resulting in “dead zones”.
It is an issue of global concern and
hypoxia and its relationship with
food-web dynamics has become
an important research topic. Three
cruises of the Chinese IMBER/
GLOBEC have examined the development of coastal hypoxia off
the Changjiang Estuary in June,
of phosphate and nitrite show a reverse relationship with DO; ammonia can also have higher levels in
DO-depleted waters, suggesting
that hypoxia off the Changjiang
Estuary accelerate the regeneration of nutrients and hence change
nutrient rations within the water
column. Hence, it can be expected that change in nutrient regimes
related to the development of hy-
poxia may cause changes in food
webs through competition for limiting nutrients among phytoplanktonic species.
The distribution of photosynthetic
pigments shows the eutrophication with Chl-a up to 5-10 µg.L-1
in surface waters. As shown by
Fucoxanthin pigment distribution,
diatoms are dominant in phytoplanktonic biomass in most stations off the Changjiang, while
dinoflagellates shown by Perid
occupy stations further off-shore.
It was found that in the period of
coastal hypoxia off the Changjiang
Estuary, when the Chl-a is higher
than 4 µg.L-1, the near-bottom water DO becomes <3 mg.L-1; that is
the higher the pigment concentration in surface waters, the lower
the DO in near-bottom waters.
A revised budget of organic carbon for the East China Sea (ECS)
reveals that total sediment flux in
the ECS Shelf is ca. 96% of the
annual terrestrial input (Deng et
al., 2006). The percentage of organic carbon (OC) burial
for both terrestrial and
marine sources can be
higher in the ECS than
the global mean value, at
10% and 5-6% respectively. Further, the transport of OC by the nepheloid layer is an important
mechanism over the ESC
Shelf, particularly in winter. Hence the OC deposited in the bottom can be
remobilised into the water
column and transferred off
the shelf, and the particulate organic carbon (POC) transport is ca. 2% of the Changjiang
supply on an annual basis (Zhu et
al. 2006).
References:
Deng B., Zhang J. and Wu Y. (2006),
Recent sediment accumulation and
carbon burial in the East China Sea,
Global Biogeochem. Cycles 20, GB3014,
doi:10.1029/2005GB002559.
IMBER Update
Zhu Z.Y., Zhang J., Wu Y. and Lin J. (2006),
Bulk particulate organic carbon in the East
China Sea: Tidal influence and bottom
transport, Prog. Oceanogr. 69: 37-60.
Research activities
on the Carbon
cycle in the oceans
around Korea
Young-Gyu Park1, Sang-Hwa Choi1,
Dongseon Kim1, and Dong-Jin Kang2
1
Korea Ocean Research and
Development Institute, Korea
2
School of Earth & Environmental
Sciences, Seoul National University,
Korea
We have been conducting research
on the oceanic carbon cycle in the
East Japan Sea, East China Sea,
Drake Passage and Northwestern
Pacific Ocean. We would like to introduce our main research activities in the East Japan Sea and the
East China Sea.
The East Japan Sea (EJS, hereafter) surrounded by Korea, Japan
and Russia is a mid-latitude marginal sea. The total area and average depth of the EJS are 1.01×106
km2 and 1740 m, respectively. The
EJS is connected to the western
North Pacific Ocean through four
channels, which are less than
140 m deep. The deep cold water
found below the thermocline located at about 100 m is formed within
the EJS and it has its own thermohaline circulation and carbon cycle
independent of those in the open
oceans. Our goal is to quantify
the carbon cycle in the EJS from
the air-sea interface to the bottom
of the ocean. To meet this goal,
we have been measuring basic
physical, chemical (∆pCO2, alkalinity, total inorganic carbon), and
biological (chlorophyll a, primary
production, bacteria, protozoa,
phyto- and zooplankton) variables
Issue No. 6 - March 2007
over the southwestern part of the
EJS. We have estimated the export production using drifting sediment traps and the measurement
of the thorium disequilibrium. The
contents and the recycling rate
of carbon in the sediments have
also been measured to quantify
the burial rate of the carbon to the
sediment. Our preliminary results
show that during spring 2006, before the spring bloom, CO2 was
absorbed into the sea at 3 to
1 mmol.m-2.day-1, while during summer 2005 CO2 was released from
the sea to the air at 0.5 to 2 mmol.
m-2.day-1. We plan to make another survey this coming (norther)
summer. We also have conducted
basin-wide surveys and found that
the EJS acts as a sink of CO2 to absorb 0.045 Gt-C per year of which
about 2/3 is due to the physical
pump. This amount is about 2% of
the total annual oceanic uptake of
2.1 Gt-C. Using the helium isotope
method, we found the total new
production is 14.6 mmol.m-2.day-1,
which is comparable to those in
the northwest Pacific.
The East China Sea is one of the
largest continental shelves in the
world, with very high production,
and believed to play an important
role in the global biogeochemical
cycles. One of the world largest
rivers, the Changjiang River, empties 890×109 m3 yr-1 of fresh water (annually on average) into the
shelf with large nutrient and carbon inputs. The Kuroshio Current
flows northeastward along the
eastern margin of the continental shelf while interacting with the
shelf water so that the ECS is an
interesting area showing characteristics of an open ocean as well
as a shelf. In addition, the ECS is
the spawning grounds of a number
of commercial fishery species including common squid, which is a
major fishery in Korean waters.
Since the summer of 2003 we
have been measuring ∆pCO2,
chlorophyll a, primary production,
phyto- and zooplankton biomass
annually. Generally, in the mid-latitude areas the sea surface temperature is the main factor controlling ∆pCO2 so that in summer the
pCO2 of sea water gets higher than
that of the air. On the contrary, in
the northern part of the East China
Sea, in July 2006, the surface water was under saturated in most
areas so that the ocean was a sink
of CO2, and ∆pCO2 is correlated
with not the sea surface temperature, but the salinity (Figure 1).
The concentration of the total inorganic carbon of the Changjiang
River discharge is lower than that
Figure 1. CO2 flux over the northern part of the East China Sea and the sea surface
temperature and salinity during July 2006. The distribution pattern shows closer correlation
with the salinity, and on the average the sea acts as a sink of CO2.
IMBER Update Issue No. 6 - March 2007
of the sea water. When the fresh
water is mixed with sea water, the
concentration of the total inorganic
carbon of the sea water drops depending on the amount of mixing.
If the Revelle factor is considered,
one would expect about 10 times
greater drop in the pCO2. The
mixing would be better correlated
with the salinity than with the temperature and the air-sea CO2 flux
would correlate with the salinity as
displayed in Figure 1.
The recently built Three Gorges
Dam will divert the Changjiang
River discharge as well as the nutrient inputs. We are sure that this
diversion will have large impacts
on the biogeochemistry and the
fishery of the ECS and the East
Japan Sea, because more than
half of the fresh water is transported into the EJS by the local
current system. Accessing the impact of the Three Gorges Dam is
another goal of our research. We
will survey the northern part of the
East China Sea over the next few
years.
IMBER workshops
and meetings
CLIOTOP
Open Science
Symposium
Co-conveners: Lisa Ballance (USA),
Felipe Galván Magaña (Mexico),
Arturo Muhlia Melo (Mexico)
CLIOTOP (CLimate Impacts on
Oceanic TOp Predators) is a-ten
year program implemented under the international research
program GLOBEC, a component
of the International GeosphereBiosphere Programme (IGBP)
and the Scientific Committee
on Oceanic Research (SCOR).
CLIOTOP is devoted to the study
of oceanic top predators within
their ecosystems and is based on a
worldwide comparative approach,
i.e. among regions, oceans and
species. It requires a substantive
international collaborative effort.
The project aims at identifying,
characterising and modelling the
key processes involved in the dynamics of oceanic pelagic ecosystems in a context of both climate
variability and change, and intensive fishing of top predators. The
goal is to improve knowledge and
to develop a reliable predictive capacity for single species and ecosystem dynamics at short, medium
and long time scales. CLIOTOP is
based on the idea that the variety
of climatic and oceanographic
conditions in the three oceans
(Atlantic, Indian and Pacific) provides a unique opportunity for largescale comparative analysis of open
ocean ecosystem functioning.
The first CLIOTOP Open Science
symposium is intended to provide
a forum for researchers with an interest in the various components
of CLIOTOP-related science. It
will highlight the state of the art in
the field and try to identify emerging directions and future challenges. The symposium is open to all
scientists interested in top predator
pelagic ecosystems functioning,
management and conservation, in
a climate change perspective.
The first Open Science CLIOTOP
Symposium will be held in La
Paz, Mexico, 3-7 December 2007.
Online registration is now open at
https://www.confmanager.com/main.
cfm?cid=722&nid=5783
The deadlines are as follows:
Call for abstracts January 2007
Abstract submission deadline:
15 May 2007
Oral and poster presentation notification: 1 July 2007
Early registration deadline:
1 July 2007
Paper submission deadline:
1 December 2007
Final registration deadline:
3 December 2007
A low-resolution version of the poster of the CLIOTOP Symposium, as
well as its brochure, can be downloaded from the symposium web­
site at http://web.pml.ac.uk/globec/
Olivier Maury and Parick Lehodey
are co-chairs of the CLIOTOP
Program
Reports on...
International
Conference on
The Humboldt
Current System:
Climate, ocean
dynamics, ecosystem
processes, and
fisheries
27 November - 1 December 2006
Lima, Peru
Organized by IMARPE (Peru) and
IRD (France) with the technical
support of FAO
Co-Conveners: Arnaud Bertrand
(France), Renato Guevara (Peru)
and Pierre Soler (France)
The Humboldt Current System
(HCS) off the west coast of South
America is notable for several reasons. First, it produces more fish
per unit area than any other region
in the world oceans. It represents
less than 1% of the world ocean
10 IMBER Update
surface, but accounts for up to
20% of the world fishing catches.
Second, it is intimately linked to the
ocean-atmosphere coupling over
the tropical Pacific Ocean, and
therefore subject to interannual,
decadal and secular fluctuations
in regional ocean climate. Third,
it is a low oxygen and intense denitrification area, contributing significantly to global budgets of
greenhouse gases. One of its main
features is the existence of the
most intense, extended and shallow Oxygen Minimum Zone (OMZ)
of the open ocean. Its presence allows the preservation of a detailed
record of the climate and ecosystem history in the laminated sediments of the continental shelf over
the past millennium and beyond.
No syntheses on the HCS have
been conducted since the late
1980s although important technical and conceptual advances
have transformed many areas of
marine sciences. These changes
provide new background to reexamine the complex links and
feed-backs between climate, ocean
circulation, biogeochemical cycles,
trophic webs and fish production.
New in situ and satellite observing
capabilities, long-term and multivariable data, improved data analysis, and ocean modelling tools can
now provide a view of the dynamics of the HCS within a multidisciplinary context. Operational fisheries management is also evolving
from a mono-specific approach
towards an “Ecosystem-Based”
paradigm. This new approach,
Issue No. 6 - March 2007
likely to be embraced in the 21st
century, appears to be particularly
appropriate for the HCS, in which
the uncertainty associated with interannual and decadal variability
and regime shifts in the context of
global warming constitutes a major challenge for oceanography,
ecology and fisheries research
and management. In this context,
there was a clear need to undertake a new integration and synthesis in our understanding of the
Humboldt Current System, which
was the aim of this conference.
Invited session papers were given by Daniel Pauly (Canada) on
Trophic Modelling of the Peruvian
(USA) on The Marine Ecosystem
off Peru: What are the Secrets
of its Fishery Productivity and
What Might its Future Hold?; Elie
Poulin (Chile) on Genetic Diversity
of Small Pelagic Fishes in the
Upwelling Systems of the Eastern
Pacific, and Renato Guevara
(Peru) on Fisheries in the Peruvian
Upwelling Ecosystem: More than
Fifty Years Learning How to Deal
with Environmental Uncertainty.
A total number of 300 people from
26 countries, including students, attended the 5-day conference, with
most of the participants from Peru,
Chile, France, USA, Germany,
and South Africa. There were 73
1
2
Picture 1. Purse Seiner off the port of Chimbote, Peru. The smoke in the background comes
from fish meal factories. (Copyright IRD / A. Bertrand)
Picture 2. Purse Seiner in activity off Peru. (Copyright IRD / A. Bertrand)
Upwelling Ecosystem: Towards
Reconciliation of Multiple Datasets;
Boris Dewitte (France) on ENSO in
the South Eastern Pacific Ocean:
the Connection with the Equatorial
Kelvin wave; Richard Barber
(USA) on Ocean dynamics and
Biogeochemistry of the Humboldt
Current System; Andrew Bakun
Picture 3. Opening session of the
Conference. (Copyright IMARPE)
oral presentations given in plenary
session and all the 140 posters
had brief oral presentations.
The multidisciplinary approach
promoted during the conference
led to a wide variety of results.
In biogeochemistry, for example,
the analysis of the large database
from IMARPE was presented. The
study highlights strong differences
in the mean and seasonal biogeochemical conditions, when compared with conditions described in
climatologies of these variables. In
particular, high primary production
was observed year-round, which
contrasts with biased satellite data
that suggest a strong decrease in
productivity during winter. A potentially strong role of coastal denitri-
IMBER Update 11
Issue No. 6 - March 2007
fication, associated with a strong
diminution in nitrate concentration
due to the quasi-anoxic condition
was also observed. The coupled
dynamics-biogeochemistry modelling allows investigation of the
processes responsible for the variability in primary productivity and
demonstrated the important role
played by iron limitation.
The book of abstracts, oral presentation and the posters can be
viewed at http://irdal.ird.fr/hcs-conference.imarpe.fao.ird.php3. A special
issue of Progress in Oceanography
from the conference will be published in 2008 under the coeditorship of A. Bertrand (France),
F. Chavez (USA), J. Csirke (FAOItaly), R. Guevara (Peru) and
P. Soler (France).
Co-Sponsors: ICES, IMBER, GLOBEC,
PICES, EUR-OCEANS, CNES, NASA,
French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, CLSArgos (France), SIMRAD (Norway),
Consejo Nacional de Ciencia, Tecnología
e Innovación Tecnológica (CONCYTEC,
Peru), French Embassy at Lima (Peru),
Alliance Française in Peru, Sociedad
Nacional de Pesquería (Peru), ARCOPA
(Peru).
Learning from the
Distant Past
It was one of those workshops to
remember - the aim of the meeting
was to bring together researchers
working on modern ocean acidification with researchers investigating relevant processes and events
in Earth history. This stimulated
cross-disciplinary thinking and improved our understanding of future
impacts if fossil-fuel CO2 continues to increase in the marine environment. Great overviews, plenty
of time for discussion and a good
range of posters contributed to a
powerful format for the frank and
open exchange of concepts and
knowledge.
You will all know that the carbonate chemistry of seawater is being altered by the uptake of CO2
from the atmosphere. Today, the
surface oceans are globally supersaturated with respect to aragonite
and calcite. But with a continuation
of CO2 emissions at current rates,
surface waters in high-latitude environments will become undersaturated with respect to aragonite by
the end of this century, which will
almost certainly impact pteropods
and other aragonitic organisms
that live there. Even in tropical waters, declining aragonite saturation
levels are likely to affect corals
and other reef-builders by reducing calcification rates.
An IGBP/SCOR Workshop
on “Ocean Acidification
– Modern Observations and
Past Experiences”
by Carol Turley and Jorijntje
Henderiks
We were two of the fortunate
65
international
participants
at the workshop sponsored by
the International GeosphereBiosphere
Programme
and
Scientific Committee on Oceanic
Research held at Lamont-Doherty
Earth Observatory from September
28 to 30, 2006 (http://igbp-scor.pag
es.unibe.ch).
Pteropod Limacina Helicina. Credits:
NOAA
While the chemistry is easy to calculate, it is more difficult to pre-
dict how marine organisms and
ecosystems will respond to a future high CO2-ocean and, indeed,
whether biota can adapt to changes in ocean carbonate chemistry.
The optimists may argue that for
organisms with short generation
times, micro-evolutionary adaptation could be rapid and that species adversely affected by high
CO2 could be replaced by more
CO2-tolerant strains or species,
with minimal impacts up the food
chain. The pessimists’ view is that
CO2-sensitive groups, such as the
marine calcifiers, will be unable to
compete ecologically, resulting in
widespread extinctions with profound ramifications up the food
web. Supposedly, there’s room in
the marine environment for a bit of
both and a lot in-between.
One big problem is that the science
of high-CO2 oceans is still evolving,
with remarkably few experiments
performed to date; the few have
been on a relatively small number
of individuals and populations and
for relatively short duration. There
are likely to be large species-specific differences – depending on
which chemical component the
organisms are most sensitive to
(e.g., changes in hydrogen ion activity (pH), CO2 concentration, carbonate ion concentration). Thus,
we have little ability to make predictions for marine ecosystems on
the decade–to-century time scale.
Even fewer studies, paleo or modern, have focused on effects of
ocean chemistry changes on softbodied and other non-calcareous
organisms. Since most marine organisms have planktonic stages in
their life cycle, changes in pelagic
ecosystems could broadly impact
marine biota. Higher organisms,
including commercially important
groups such as fish and shellfish,
may be particularly vulnerable during egg and larval development.
Detailed mechanistic knowledge
of calcification by marine biota is
12 IMBER Update
Issue No. 6 - March 2007
still lacking, limiting broad-scale
Figure 1: Calcitic parts
1
inferences from calcification exof marine phytoplankton
(coccolithophore Emiperiments under variable levels
liana Huxley) and zooof CO2 and carbonate saturation
plankton (Foraminifera
state. Still, the consequences
Globigerina bulloides).
of ocean acidification appear
Courtesy of Patricia
Ziveri
and
Harry
to be clearest for corals, with
Ederfield for FTI «Ocean
most studies suggesting a linAcidification».
ear relationship between coral
Figure 2: Data from
Chris Langdon, Univercalcification rate and aragonite
sity of Miami.
saturation state. In comparison,
calcitic coccolithophores and
foraminifera generally exhibit a
2
weaker calcification response to
changing carbonate chemistry.
Among pelagic organisms, shifts
in the carbonate system have
been shown to impede calcification, larval development and
recruitment, while stimulating
photosynthesis, carbon and nitrogen fixation and phytoplankton exudation, but there are still
concentrations and together with
large uncertainties in predicting
the biological response to future marine paleo-proxies (e.g., boron
ocean acidification. The workshop isotopes) serve to reasonably esexplored any answers that might timate ocean carbonate chemistry
lay in the geologic record. First, over the last 650,000 years. For
we sought to identify which paleo- periods extending back millions
archives would serve a detailed of years the uncertainty increasunderstanding of past changes es, as available proxy measurein ocean chemistry and biotic re- ments preclude very accurate responses to events in which ocean construction of ocean carbonate
acidification is thought to have chemistry.
played a role. Second, as data
Such measurements indicate no
so far suggest we lack an exact
major undersaturation of the surpast analogue of present-day CO2
face ocean for at least the last 65
emissions, discussion centered on
million years, and that the curhow future scenarios might comrent rate and magnitude of CO2pare with the Paleocene-Eocene
­induced chemical change occurThermal Maximum (PETM; 55 Ma)
ring in the ocean are unprecedentand mass extinction events such
ed for at least the past 55 million
as at the Cretaceous-Paleogene
(K-Pg; 65 Ma) and Permo-Triassic
(P-Tr; 248 Ma) boundaries.
Archives such as deep-sea corals, rapidly accumulating sediment drift deposits and molluscan
records such as Arctica islandica
may have recorded the response
of the carbonate system to changing atmospheric CO2 since the
industrial revolution. Ice cores
provide high resolution and accurate records of atmospheric CO2
Brain coral. credit : Consigliere
years. The amount of carbon
released into the environment
at the PETM was comparable
to what we could release over
the next decades and centuries, and this event primarily
disrupted benthic marine calcifiers. During the major extinction
events such as the K-Pg and
the P-Tr, many planktonic calcifiers went extinct and most corals died. The loss of calcareous
organisms suggest that ocean
acidification could have been a
factor in these events, but global
warming and changes in ocean
circulation also likely played important roles. A major challenge
with interpreting these past records is to uniquely relate effects to causes, which is often
hampered by the temporal resolution of our paleo-records.
Another important aspect during
our discussions was the rate of
change and recovery to ‘pre-event’
conditions of the chemical and biotic processes under scrutiny. A
useful nutshell was a trip into the
future to address what happens
to the anthropogenic CO2. Ocean
carbon models and the sediment
record both indicate that chemical recovery from projected CO2
emissions will require thousands
of years (chemical equilibration with carbonate minerals) to
hundreds of thousands of years
(equilibration with the carbonatesilicate cycle). This means that the
chemical effects of CO2 releases
from burning fossil fuels occur on
time scales similar to those associated with the disposal of nuclear
waste, and are not confined to the
century time scale often erroneously cited as the lifetime of anthropogenic carbon dioxide in the
environment.
A big take-home message came
from studies of past extinction
events, which indicate that recovery of coral reef systems is measured in millions of years - ample
IMBER Update 13
Issue No. 6 - March 2007
time for the recovery of survivors,
evolution of new organisms and the
development of new food webs different to those that existed before
the perturbation (after the K-Pg
extinction, for example, dinosaurs
were replaced by mammals). Thus
lessons from the past indicate that
should increasing ocean acidification lead to significant loss of
biodiversity and even extinction,
biological systems would not “recover” to pre-industrial ecosystems, but rather would “transition”
to a new state.
AUSTRAL
SUMMER
INSTITUTE – VII
(ASI-VII)
University of
Concepción
It is important in these times when
climate change policy makers are
calling for our input that the scientific community’s response is
unambiguous. A consensus was
reached among the workshop participants that:
The Seventh Austral Summer
Institute (http://www.udec.cl/ocean
oudec/oceanografia) was held 2-26
January 2007, at the University of
Concepción, Chile, and organized
in two modules.
1) Ocean acidification at the rate
and magnitude projected for the
coming decades represents a major risk to at least some marine
ecosystems.
The module “Methane biogeochemistry and geophysics” was
held at the Marine Biology Station of
the Department of Oceanography
of University of Concepción, in
Dichato, and consisted of four
courses:
2) Effects of acidification will differ
across different marine environments but cannot be determined
with any certainty based on our
present understanding.
3) Research is needed to assess
the consequences of ocean acidification, including a better understanding of present, past and future changes in ocean carbonate
chemistry and the biotic responses
to these changes.
Methane biogeochemistry and
geophysics & Remote sensing
and ocean-land interaction
by Monica Sorondo and Silvio
Pantoja, FONDAP-COPAS, Chile
1. Methane:
Microbes,
Bio­
markers & Carbon Cycle by Antje
Boetius, Gerald Dickens, and KaiUwe Hinrichs.
2. Methane hydrates by Richard
Behl and Gerhard Bohrmann.
. Sediment diagenesis & biol-
ogy by Jeffrey Chanton and Lisa
Levin.
4. Methane turnover & seeps
by Guillermo Alfaro and Jean
Whelan.
The module “Remote Sensing and
Ocean-Land interaction”, was held
at the Main Campus of UDEC, and
consisted of two courses:
1. Rivers: Connecting land and
the ocean. Processes and problems (January 3 – 12, 2007), by
John Milliman.
2. Use of remote sensing and
bio-optics for coastal water quality monitoring (January 16 – 26,
2007) by Ajit Subramaniam.
Activities included lectures, discussions, laboratory work to examine
sulfide oxidizing bacteria, infaunal
invertebrates, and computer activities to analyze satellite-derived
data. Field trips were also undertaken to a) the Coliumo Tidal Flat
to observe invertebrates and study
redox zonation, b) the Nahuelbuta
Mountain region to observe upper mantle rocks and 280 million
year-oceanic crust, c) the Bío-Bío
river to examine the river bed and
d) Coliumo Bay to collect optical
data aboard the R/V Kay Kay.
Fifty graduate and advanced undergraduate students, from Chile,
Peru, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico,
4) It is important to improve our
communication to policy makers of the risks associated with
ocean acidification, as these risks
may provide motivation for far­reaching and rapid reduction of
CO2 emissions.
This group of students
attended the Sediment and Diagenesis
and Biology course in
Dichato.
14 IMBER Update
Germany and Scotland, participated in ASI VII. This capacity-­building
activity for graduate education is
supported by the UNESCO-IOC
Chair in Oceanography (granted to
S. Pantoja) and Fundación AndesChile through the Education/
Research Agreement UDEC-
Issue No. 6 - March 2007
WHOI-FA, and was sponsored by
the Graduate School at UDEC,
the FONDAP COPAS Center,
WHOI, IMBER, CIEP, POGO, and
the Ministry of Education of Chile
(MECESUP Program).
The Austral Summer Institute VII is
a contribution of the Department of
Oceanography and the FONDAP
COPAS Center at University of
Concepcion to capacity building
in Latin America, and the development of networks among local and
visiting scientists and students.
IMBER sponsored participants to workshops
Jorge Cortés, Costa Rica
Between October 23 and 27, 2006, I had the opportunity to travel to Chile to
attend the Workshop: “Oxygen Minimum Systems in the Ocean: Distribution,
Diversity and Dynamics”, organized by the Universidad de Concepción. My trip
was generously funded by IMBER. More than 100 specialists from many coun­
tries attended the workshop. Papers on processes, organisms and dynamics
of those regions of the ocean where oxygen reaches minimum levels were
presented. I presented a poster together with Victor Ariel Gallardo and Carola
Espinoza entitled: “Preliminary Observations on Benthic Microbes from Golfo
Dulce, Costa Rica”. I was instructed and inspired by the speakers and the
workshop activities. The OMZ topic is relevant to us in Costa Rica, because
Golfo Dulce, a tropical fyord on the southern part of the country, has oxygen
minimum zones. Very recently, macrobacteria have been collected from the
sediments of Golfo Dulce. Finally, the workshop was a great opportunity to
meet colleagues and discuss possible research collborations.
Jorge Cortés is working at Centro de Investigación en Ciencias del Mar y Lim­
nología (CIMAR), Universidad de Costa Rica, San Pedro, San José 2060
Jorge Cortés, enjoying a great
seafood lunch in Chile. Photograph by Carola Espinoza.
Email: [email protected]
Partner Programmes
An ocean-atmosphere observatory in the
eastern tropical Atlantic Ocean: TENATSO
by Leticia Cotrim da Cunha and Douglas Wallace
IfM-GEOMAR, Germany
Two potentially major climate-related interactions linking the ocean and the atmosphere
are: (1) climate change alterations of ocean circulation and upwelling, and consequent
changes in oceanic gas emissions, and (2) effects of climate-related changes in deposition of continental
dust on marine ecosystems. Such complex and interdependent processes require experimental investigation
(“process-studies”), but information can also be derived through long-term observation of natural and human-
IMBER Update 15
Issue No. 6 - March 2007
forced variability. Ideally, process studies can be conducted within the
context of long-term observations.
In the past six months we have started to establish the Tropical Eastern
North Atlantic Time-Series Observatory (TENATSO). TENATSO is currently a specific support action funded by the EU that supports the establishment of pre-operational ocean and atmosphere observation capability in the tropical Eastern North Atlantic Ocean. The chosen location is at Cape Verde, in and near São Vicente Island (Figure 1). The
project involves scientific institutions from Germany, England as well as
Cape Verde (Table 1).
Table 1 – Scientific institutions involved in TENATSO
Participant name
Leibniz-Institut für Meereswissenschaften (IfMGEOMAR)
University of York (UoY)
Instituto Nacional de Meteorologia e Geofísica
(INMG)
Instituto Nacional de Desenvolvimento das Pescas
(INDP)
Max-Planck Institut für Biogeochemie (MPIB)
Leibniz-Institut für Troposphärenforschung (IfT)
Country
Germany
UK
Cape Verde
Cape Verde
Germany
Germany
Cape Verde is ideally located for both ocean and atmosphere observation. Being downwind of the Mauritanian upwelling, the Observatory
can provide unique information linking strong variations of surface water biological productivity with variable atmospheric composition. The
site is also located underneath an area of massive dust transport from
land to the ocean. This is an area where aerosol impacts on climate,
atmospheric chemistry and marine processes are large and subject to
future change as a result of direct or indirect human intervention. The
tropical seas are recognised as areas where sea-surface temperatures
are changing rapidly, with potential consequences for phytoplankton
biomass. The location is well-placed for studies of tropical climate variability and trace gas studies as well as for investigations of dust impacts
Figure 1: Observatory location
on marine ecosystems.
Ocean-based activities started on
8th July 2006 with the deployment
of an initial oceanographic mooring at the proposed time-series
site during a cruise of R/V Meteor.
Several cruises have already collected data at the location since
then. Regular ocean-based activities will start in the Summer of
2007 with the initiation of regular
ship-based observations at the location – which is about 70 kilometres offshore of Mindelo (Figure 1).
The work at the ocean observatory
involves the INDP and the IfMGEOMAR, and is also supported
by the German project SOPRAN
(Surface Ocean Processes in
the Anthropocene, http://sopran.
pangaea.de). The Cape Verdean
research vessel Islândia (Figure
2a) will be equipped to collect in
situ monthly samples for marine
parameters (temperature, salinity,
biological parameters, nutrients,
dissolved carbon and oxygen),
that will be analysed at the laboratory facility at the Institute for the
Development of Fisheries (INDP)
in Mindelo, São Vicente Island.
INDP staff have been trained at
IfM-GEOMAR, with an initial focus
on chemical and biological oceanography sampling techniques
and analyses that they will perform
at the ocean observatory. This
was possible through support from
the POGO-SCOR (Partnership for
Observation of the Global Oceans)
Fellowship Programme .
The atmospheric observatory is
co-funded through the UK NERC
Surface Ocean-Lower Atmosphere
Study programme (UK SOLAS)
and by TENATSO (Figure 2b). The
atmospheric site was established
in October 2006 and is already
measuring a range of meteorological parameters, greenhouse
and short-lived gases, and aerosols. The work at the atmospheric station is coordinated by the
University of York in cooperation
16 IMBER Update
Issue No. 6 - March 2007
with the Cape Verdean Institute
for Meteorology and Geophysics
(INMG), together with the IfT, the
MPIB and additional institutions.
Preliminary data from the site are
already available at http://www.york.
ac.uk/capeverde/index.html.
projects such as SOPRAN and
UK-SOLAS. It should provide
a valuable platform from which
scientists can assess oceanatmosphere interactions in a region of strong variability which is
otherwise difficult to access.
It is expected that datasets arising
from the ocean and atmospheric
observatories will contribute to
databases such as the Global
Atmospheric Watch of the World
Meteorological
Organization
(GAW),
the
Global
Ocean
Observing System (GOOS), and
global ocean time-series network
OceanSITES
(www.oceansites.
org). The Observatory is designed
to support shorter-term research
measurements and field work by
international investigators and
Further information on TENATSO
activities is available at: http://te
natso.ifm-geomar.de.
Contacts:
Douglas Wallace, TENATSO Coordinator,
IfM-GEOMAR ([email protected])
Letícia Cotrim da Cunha, TENATSO
Ocean Site Scientist, IfM-GEOMAR (lco
[email protected])
Lucy Carpenter, Atmospheric
Observatory Coordinator, University of
York ([email protected])
Katie Read, Atmospheric Site Scientist,
University of York ([email protected])
THE ARGOOXYGEN
PROGRAM
A white paper to promote the
addition of oxygen sensors to the
international Argo float program
A white paper to promote the addition of oxygen sensors to the Argo
float program has been released
by the members of the ArgoOxygen writing team with input
from the community at large. This
paper is aimed to form the basis
for the discussions next month
at the Argo SC meeting in Paris.
It synthesizes the main scientific
motivations, the objective, as well
as the current status of the technology, including the identification
of current existing gaps. It also
outlines a possible path forward
with regard to the actual implementation.
Scientific motivations and objective
In order to determine, on a globalscale, seasonal to decadal timescale variations in sub-surface
dissolved oxygen concentrations,
it is suggested to add dissolved
oxygen sensors to the floats of
the Argo array. Oceanic dissolved
Figure 2: Cap Verdean research vessel and atmospheric observatory
oxygen concentration allows the
study and quantification of processes such as the detection of the
oceanic impact of global warming
on ocean biogeochemistry and
circulation, the addition of unprecAnnouncements
edented constraints on the export
of biologically formed organic matter, and improved estimates of the
oceanic uptake of anthropogenic
EUR-OCEANS - Call
CO2. The addition of oxygen to the
Call for proposals - Data Rescue & Transformation
currently measured suite of temperature and salinity on Argo will
EUR-OCEANS will award 200,000 Euros in 2007/08 to rescue histor- represent a revolutionary step in
ical field data and to transform field and experimental data into pre- ­ our ability to observe the ocean’s
determined formats. These data are essential to constrain and validate evolution over time, integrating
models designed to assess and forecast the impacts of climate and biogeochemical and physical obanthropogenic forcing on pelagic ecosystems (structure, functioning, di- servations.
versity and stability) in the open ocean.
Benefits
The calls close on Monday 23 April 2007.
The proposed program will broadTo apply, visit http://www.eur-oceans.eu/dataportal
en the scientific scope of Argo and
expand the number of Argo data
IMBER Update 17
Issue No. 6 - March 2007
users; it will create new links between the physical and the biogeochemical ocean research communities. The new observations will
also contribute to the activities of
various international networks and
partnerships for Earth Observing
Systems, such as the Climate Observing System/Global Ocean Observing System (GCOS/ GOOS).
The authors are currently seeking
comments from the wider community.
The document can be downloaded
at http://www.ioc.unesco.org/ioccp/
docs/o2_argo_whitepaper_15feb07_
r.pdf
Comments
and
suggestions
should be forwarded to Nicolas
Gruber ([email protected].
ch)
New host for JGOFS
website
We have the pleasure to announce
that the US JGOFS office at WHOI
has kindly accepted to host the International JGOFS web site. The
site, which was created and maintained by the JGOFS International
Project Office at the University of
Bergen since 1996, was recently
inactivated by the university. We
are pleased with WHOI for taking
care of the long-term stewardship
of the site.
For general inquiries about the
JGOFS, users are asked to
contact either the IGBP Secretariat or SCOR.
Users are also made aware that
research on marine carbon cycle is carried out by the Joint IMBER/SOLAS Carbon Working
Group and that inquiries and requests shall be made to IMBER
(http://www.imber.info/C_WG.html) or
­SOLAS (http://www.solas-int.org)
The new URL to the International
JGOFS web site is http://ijgofs.whoi.
edu/.
GEOTRACES
intercalibration
activity
Invitation to participate in the
GEOTRACES intercalibration
activity
GEOTRACES is an international
study of the marine biogeochemical cycles of trace elements and
their isotopes, an interest shared
with many scientists working in
IMBER.
The U.S. National Science Foun­
dation anticipates funding two
cruises to support the intercalibration of sampling, sample handling,
and analytical methods used to
measure dissolved and particulate
trace elements and their isotopes
in seawater; a copy of the proposal is posted on the Intercalibration
page of the GEOTRACES web site
(www.geotraces.org). The purpose
of this intercalibration is to ensure
that results obtained throughout
the GEOTRACES program, and
in related studies, are accurate,
internally consistent and quantitatively comparable.
The primary objective of the first
cruise (approximately May 2008,
in the vicinity of Bermuda) will be
to test for contamination and comparability in various sampling systems used to collect seawater and
particulate material. In addition,
seawater samples will be collected and distributed to investigators
worldwide to facilitate comparison
of analytical methods (details below). Objectives for the second
cruise will be refined based on results from the first cruise.
Water sampling systems that
will be supported aboard the first
cruise include:
1) An epoxy powder-coated rosette with 12-liter Go-Flo bottles
and a Kevlar conducting hydro­wire
(intended to be the principal water sampling system for the U.S.
GEOTRACES program),
2) A standard rosette with 12-liter
Niskin bottles, and
3) 30-liter Go-Flo bottles deployed
on a Kevlar hydrowire.
4) A clean surface pumping system
for sampling the upper 100-200m.
The NSF award will support the
collection of particulate material
using the rosette mounted GOFlo bottles and in-line filtration of
5-10 L onto various filter types
(various materials and pore sizes
to be tested). We also want to intercalibrate methods for collecting
larger volume particulate samples
(e.g., using in situ pumps), but no
funding was obtained for this. We
encourage other participants to
bring large volume particle sampling systems.
Scientists interested in bringing
other sampling systems (water or
particles) on the cruise to compare with those described above
are encouraged to contact the
PIs (Greg Cutter, [email protected];
Ken Bruland, [email protected];
Rob Sherrell, [email protected]
gers.edu) to ascertain whether the
sampling systems are compatible
with the objectives of the intercalibration program, and to determine if space and berths aboard
the ship are likely to be available.
Investigators wishing to test their
sampling systems aboard the
cruise will need to secure funding to support their participation.
Letters of support can be provided
by the Chairs of the GEOTRACES
Scientific Steering Committee if
desired (contact Bob Anderson,
[email protected]).
To facilitate the comparisons of
analytical methods, the U.S. NSF
award will support the collection
of 0.2-micron filtered and acidified
seawater that will be distributed in
acid-cleaned, 0.5-liter, low-density,
polyethylene bottles. These samples can be obtained by request to
Ken Bruland ([email protected]).
For analyses requiring samples
larger than 0.5 liters (e.g., Th‑230,
Nd isotopes) or for analyses requiring special handling (e.g.,
Hg), investigators will need to
provide pre-cleaned sample containers along with instructions for
18 IMBER Update
sample collection and handling.
Investigators involved in analyses
that require large volumes or special handling are encouraged to organize teams with common interests to develop a shared sample
collection and distribution system.
A representative from each team
will work with the principal investigators to ensure that the needs
of the participating scientists are
met.
The US NSF award does not cover
participant costs. It is hoped that
the cost associated with analysis
of intercalibration samples will be
minimal, and can be covered by
existing funding. In cases where
additional funding must be sought,
a letter of support can be provided
by the Chairs of the GEOTRACES
SSC.
A list of interested scientists is
available on GEOTRACES website (Intercalibration page at www.
geotraces.org). If you wish to participate, please contact Greg Cutter
([email protected]) and provide the
following information:
a) trace elements and/or isotopes
to be measured,
b) whether the analyses involve
dissolved or particulate elements,
c) volume of water required for
each analysis, and
d) a description of sampling systems to be tested at sea.
Issue No. 6 - March 2007
North Atlantic
Bloom Experiment
March - July 2008 60N, 20W
PI’s: Eric D’Asaro, Craig Lee
Mary Jane Perry, Katja Fennel
Collaborators Wanted!
Cruises:
Mid-March - Short deployment
April-May - 28 days
Late June - Short recovery
The North Atlantic Bloom Experiment has some ship time and
space available on these cruises
and can take some additional water samples.
• Physical Forcing of Primary
Productivity
• 3-D mapping on Patch Scale
• Autonomous gliders and floats
Autonomous measurements:
• T,S,O2, Chl-a, Beam-C,
• NO3,Light, Backscatter
• Shipboard measurements:
• Nutrients, POC, PON, DOC
• O2, Chl-a, CDOM, 14C,
• optics, HPLC, Cytometry on
preserved samples
Contact
[email protected].
edu
Congratulations for
Richard A. Feely
Richard Feely, a member of the
joint IMBER/SOLAS Carbon task
team and senior scientist at the
NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, has been
elected as a new American Geophysical Union fellow. He was nominated for «His groundbreaking
www.imber.info
research and scientific leadership
to quantify oceanic uptake of anthropogenic CO2 and the effect of
ocean acidification». Dick Feely’s
research interests range from studies of the chemistry of hydrothermal vent fluids to improving our
under­standing of the role of the
oceans in the global carbon cycle.
He is very active in the development of national and international
carbon cycle research programs.
The new fellows will be recognised
during the Joint Assembly in May
2007 in Acapulco, Mexico. Nominated by AGU members each year
approximately 48 scientists worldwide are selected for their outstand­
ing contribution to the geophysical
research.
More...
The announcement for the 2007
POGO-SCOR Visiting Fellowships
for Oceanographic Observations is
available now on the POGO website at http://www.ocean-partners.
org/POGO_SCOR_Fellowships.htm
NSF press release:
Northwest Atlantic Ocean ecosystems
experiencing
large
climate-related changes - Research shows links between
collapse of fisheries and bottom-living species
URL: http://www.nsf.gov/publications/
pub_summ.jsp?ods_key=pr07014
News Release on NSF website
22/02/2007
20 IMBER Update
Issue No. 6 - March 2007
Thank you
The IMBER SSC and IPO wish to ex­
press their thanks to Ann Bucklin
and Dave Hutchins who have, due
to other commitments, rotated off
the IMBER SSC. Ann was a member
of both the IMBER transition team
and the SSC and Dave was a
member of the IMBER SSC for the past three years.
They both contributed significantly
to the development and writing of
the IMBER Science Plan and Imple­
mentation Strategy and have been
involved in the initial implementa­
tion of the IMBER project. We wish
them well in their new endeavours.
Welcome
The IMBER SSC warmly welcomes two new mem­
bers, Mary-Elena Carr and Michael Roman who
have been appointed to the SSC for the next three
years.
Mary-Elena’s expertise in­
cludes remote sensing and
marine
biogeochemistry.
Mary-Elena graduated with a
MSc degree in Biology at the
University of Barcelona (1986)
and a Ph.D in oceanogra­
phy at Dalhousie University
in 1991. After a postdoctoral
experience at the Oregon
State University, she joined the
University of Rhode Island as a marine scientist. She
has been a research scientist at the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory (NASA) since 1996 in the Water and
Carbon Cycles Group. Her research interests in­
clude interannual variability of ocean carbon
fluxes, novel applications of remote sensing to study
ocean biogeochemistry, physical-biological inter­
actions, eastern boundary current systems, air-sea
gas exchange, and biological productivity.
Michael’s expertise is in zoo­
plankton ecology, and the
structure and dynamics of
food webs particularly in ar­
eas of hypoxia. Michael ob­
tained a M.A. in biology at
the City College and a Ph.D in
zoology from the University of
New Hampshire (1976). He has
worked as research assistant
at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and then
became Assistant Professor at the School of Marine
and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, in
1978. Michael joined the Center for Environmental
and Estuarine Studies, University of Maryland, in
1981 and held several positions until 2001 when he
became Director of the Center for Environmental
Science. Together with his team at the Horn Point
Laboratory, he has developed several projects in­
cluding BITMAX (Bio-physical Interactions in the
Turbidity Maximum), and has worked collabora­
tively on projects involving toxic dinoflagellates,
ecosystem structure, biogeochemical fluxes and
vulnerability to climate change perturbations, and
integration of traditional, optical and acoustic zoo­
plankton and fish data in the Chesapeake Bay.
Related
conferences and workshops
IMBER WORKSHOPS and
CONFERENCES
EGU - General Assembly 2007
IMBER/SOLAS Special Session
(OS6)
April 15-20, 2007, Vienna, Austria
http://www.cosis.net/members/
meetings/sessions/information.
php?p_id=249&s_id=4048
IMBER SSC meeting
June 12-14, 2007, Victoria,
Canada
www.loicz.org
Joint IMBER / LOICZ Continental
Margins Open Science
Conference
September 17-21, 2007,
Shanghai, China
Joint IMBER/CLIVAR/GLOBEC/
SOLAS Workshop
Climate driving of ecosystem
– making the connection”
End 2007, Brest, France
www.imber.info
[email protected]
IMBER Update 21
Issue No. 6 - March 2007
IMBER-RELATED
CONFERENCES
2007
Workshop on Data Assimilation
in Coastal Ocean Observing Sys­
tems
April 3-5, Corvallis, Oregon, USA
http://cioss.coas.oregonstate.edu/
CIOSS/modeling_workshop.html
Surface pCO2 and Ocean Vulnerabilities workshop
April 11-14, Paris, France
http://www.ioc.unesco.org/ioccp/
pco2_2007.htm
EGU General Assembly
April 15-20, Vienna, Austria
Sensitivity of marine ecosystems
and biogeochemical cycles to climate change (OS13)
http://www.cosis.net/members/meet
ings/programme/view.php?p_id=249
Climate variability and the carbon
cycle (past, present and future):
The EuroCLIMATE Programme
on multi-proxy reconstructions
and coupled climate models at
European and regional scales
(BG5.09/CL49)
Biogeochemistry of coastal seas
and continental shelves (BG2.02)
http://www.cosis.net/members/meetings/programme/view.php?p_id=236
CLIVAR / GOOS Indian Ocean
Panel 4th session
April 23-25, Pretoria, South Africa
http://www.clivar.org/organization/in
dian/IOP_meet.php
Ocean Controls in Abrupt Climate
Changes / ESF Research Conference
May 19-24, Obergurgel, Austria
http://www.esf.org/conferences
The 2007 AGU Joint Assembly
May 22-25, Acapulco, Mexico
http://www.agu.org/meetings/ja07/
Climate, Ecosystems, and Biogeochemistry of the Pacific Ocean:
Variability and Change (U05)
http://www.agu.org/meetings/ja07/
?content=search&show=detail&se
ssid=98
4th International Zooplankton Production Symposium
Human and climate forcing on
zooplankton production
Session on zooplankton biogeochemical cycling
May 28-June 1, Hiroshima, Japan
http://www.pices.int/meetings/inter
national_symposia/2007_symposia/
4th_Zooplankton/4th_Zoopl.aspx
5th Study Conference on BALTEX
June 4-8, Kuressaare, Saaremaa,
Estonia
Christian MÖLLMANN (christian.moell
USA
Mary Zawoysky (mzawoysky@whoi.
edu)
http://ocb.whoi.edu
Chemical Oceanography GRC
Conference
August 5 -10, New Hampshire,
USA
http://www.grc.org/programs.aspx?ye
ar=2007&program=chemocn
Effects of Climate Change on Marine Ecosystems - Inter-Research
Symposium # 2
Convened in conjunction with he
42nd European Marine Biology
Symposium
August 27-31, Kiel, Germany
http://www.ir-symposia.com/Conf_
home.asp?ConferenceCode=EMBS
%202007
[email protected])
Early Career Scientist Conference- New Frontiers in Marine
Science
June 26-29, Baltimore, Maryland,
USA
http://www.pices.int/meetings/inter
national_symposia/2007_symposia/
Young_scientists/newfrontiers.aspx
Paleo and Modern Perspectives
on Global Change (IGBP)
June 27, London, UK
http://www.bridge.bris.ac.uk/palmope
International Sea-Ice Summer
School
July 2-13, Svalbard, Norway
http://www.seaice.info
IUGG general assembly
July 2-17, 2007, Perugia, Italy
Impact of CO2 Changes on Biogeochemical Processes and Ecosystem Functioning (PS009)
http://www.iugg2007Perugia.it
Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry (OCB) Summer 2007 Science Workshop
July 23-26, Woods Hole, MA,
2nd Global Conference on Large
Marine Ecosystems
September 11-13, Qingdao, China
http://www.imber.info/jobs-announce
ments/LMEs_first_announcement.pdf
Dissertations Initiative for the
Advancement of Climate Change
Research Symposium
Interdisciplinary Opportunity for
Recent PhD Graduates:
September 10-17, Kilauea, ­Hawaii
http://disccrs.org
Ocean Biodiversity Informatics
conference (OBI’07)
October 2-4, 2007, Dartmouth,
Nova Scotia, Canada
http://nautilus.mathstat.dal.ca/OBI07
Long Time-Series Observations in
Coastal Ecosystems AGU Chapman Conference
Comparative Analyses of Phytoplankton Dynamics on Regional to
Global Scales
October 8-12, Rovinj, Croatia
http://www.agu.org/meetings/chap
man.html
22 IMBER Update
2007 SOLAS International Summer School
October 22 - November 3, ­Corsica,
France
http://www.uea.ac.uk/env/solas/sum
merschool/
1st CLIOTOP Symposium: Climate impacts on oceanic top
predators
December 3-7,La Paz, Mexico
http://web.pml.ac.uk/globec/structure/
regional/cliotop/symposium.htm
Issue No. 6 - March 2007
2008
The 14th Ocean Sciences Meeting
(Joint with ASLO, ERF, TOS and
AGU)
March 2-7, Orlando, FL, USA
http://www.aslo.org/meetings.html
40th International Liège Colloquium on Ocean Dynamics and
Advanced Research Workshop
Oceanography of the rapidly
changing Arctic and Sub-arctic
May 5-9, Liège, Belgium
ICES/PICES/IOC Symposium
Effects of climate change on the
world’s oceans
May 19-23, Gijón, Spain
http://www.pices.int/meetings/All_
events_default.aspx#Int_Symp
International Symposium
Eastern Boundary Upwelling Ecosystems: Integrative and Comparative Approaches
June 2-6, Las Palmas de Gran
­Canaria, Spain
http://www.upwelling-symposium.org/
http://modb.oce.ulg.ac.be/collo
quium/2007.html
INSTRUCTIONS TO CONTRIBUTORS
The IMBER Update is published quarterly and is released in on-line version (www.imber.info/newsletters.html).
ARTICLES
We invite you to submit your contribution to the IMBER Update using the following guidelines:
Articles can be up to 1000 words with accompanying figures and/or pictures. When sending illustrations for the
IMBER Update please include them in as high resolution as possible, minimum requirement is 300 dpi as tiff or
eps.Text should be in .doc or .txt.
Contributions should be sent to [email protected]
The Science Plan and Implementation Strategy is available on request at [email protected] and is downloadable
from the website, www.imber.info/SPIS.html
IMBER International Project Office
Institut Universitaire Européen
de la Mer
Place Nicolas Copernic,
29280 Plouzané, France
Ph: +33 2 98 49 86 72
Fax: + 33 2 98 49 86 09
www.imber.info
[email protected]
For submissions and subscriptions,
contact [email protected]
Published by IMBER
Editors: Sylvie Roy and Elena Fily
ISSN 1951-610X