SeaTraM

Seasonality of Trace Metal Distributions in the Southern Ocean

Coordination

Eva Bucciarelli, LEMAR, France / T. Mtshali, CSIR, Afrique du Sud

Project type

International

Funding

ISblue (2019) / PHC PROTEA (2019-2020)

Project duration

Start Date

End Date

Links

A lack of winter sampling in the Southern Ocean has resulted in large gaps in our understanding of
the seasonal variability of primary productivity and consequently of the oceanic biological carbon pump. There is only one reported winter time distribution of dissolved iron (dFe, 0.45 μm fraction) measurements in the Southern
Ocean have been published, even though particulate Fe exerts controls on the dFe pool through
dissolution, scavenging and aggregation processes. We propose within this project, to investigate for the first time, the oceanic distributions of dFe, pFe, Feorg and humic substances simultaneously in the Atlantic Sector of the Southern Ocean in Winter 2019; onboard the South African RV SA Agulhas II (collaboration with CSIR and Stellenbosch University, South Africa).

SeaTraM arose within the framework of the Laboratoire Mixte International ICEMASA (International Centre for Education, Marine and Atmospheric Sciences over Africa), which facilitated the emergence of French-South African research projects on Climate Change in the Southern Ocean and African margins. The objectives of SeaTraM are also linked to the themes developed by the international GEOTRACES program, iron being a core parameter of GEOTRACES.

The team

Contributors

Thato Mtshali (CSIR, Afrique du Sud)

Roychoudhury (Stellenbosch University, Afrique du Sud)