Table of Contents

• Dataset Description
  • Methods & Sampling
  • Data Processing Description
• Parameters
• Deployments
• Project Information
• Program Information

Station Locations and Descriptions

Generated aboard the individual SERIES cruises

BCO-DMO Processing Notes
Generated from original spreadsheet C-SOLAS_SERIES_Stations.xls

BCO-DMO Edits
- Station files for all three SERIES cruises standardized with common information/headers
- Cruise, Project, Station_Log_Name and Station_Secondary_Name added
- lon/lat converted from degs min.decimal min to decimal degrees
- lon signed negative for West
- date reformatted to YYYYMMDD
- time reformatted to HHMMSS
- parameter names modified to conform to BCO-DMO convention

Iron fertilization in the NE subarctic Pacific
Objective: To determine the influence of iron on the production of the trace gases and their impact on the atmospheric chemical and physical properties and on climate flux of climatically active gases.

Experiment: The iron fertilization expedition involved three ships that sampled both the surrounding and the iron-enriched waters. The addition of iron prompted an explosive growth of phytoplankton that turned blue waters of the NE Pacific green. The bloom was recorded by a NASA satellite as it spread into a 500 km2 patch.

In July, 2002 the SERIES was carried out in the NE Pacific near Ocean Station Papa (50N, 145W). Three ships, the CCGS John P. Tully, the M/V El Puma (Mexico) and M/V Kaiyo Maru from Japan, along with 45 researchers from 20 institutions across Canada as well as international collaborators participated in the experiment. The objectives were to study the response of phytoplankton, bacteria and zooplankton to the addition of Fe, the effect on carbon flux to the deep ocean, the influence of Fe on the production and cycling of climatically active trace gases and its influence on the atmospheric sulfur budget, sulfate aerosols and cloud microphysics. The decline and fate of the iron stimulated diatom bloom as been reported (Boyd et al. (2004) Nature, doi:10.1038).

These data report on the decline and fate of an iron-stimulated diatom bloom in the Gulf of Alaska. The bloom terminated on day 18, following the depletion of iron and then silicic acid, after which mixed-layer particulate organic carbon (POC) concentrations declined over six days. Increased particulate silica export via sinking diatoms was recorded in sediment traps at depths between 50 and 125 m from day 21, yet increased POC export was not evident until day 24. Only a small proportion of the mixed-layer POC was intercepted by the traps, with more than half of the mixed-layer POC deficit attributable to bacterial remineralization and mesozooplankton grazing. The depletion of silicic acid and the inefficient transfer of iron-increased POC below the permanent thermocline have major implications both for the biogeochemical interpretation of times of greater iron supply in the geological past, and also for proposed geo-engineering schemes to increase oceanic carbon sequestration.

Prior to commencing the joint iron and SF6 addition, 48-h oceanographic survey (7-8 July 2002) was conducted in the vicinity of Ocean Station Papa (OSP, 508N, 1458W) to identify an appropriate site with HNLC characteristics typical of this region (LaRoche et al. 1996; Nishioka et al. 2001). A suitable site was located 50 km northeast of OSP, and the surface waters were enriched on 10 July 2002 (denoted as day 0 of SERIES) with dissolved iron to .1 nmol L-1, along with the concurrent addition of the tracer SF6 (>400 fmol L-1) following procedures reported in Law et al. (1998). Throughout SERIES, mixed-layer SF6 concentrations were always significantly higher than background levels, and thus we did not add any more SF6 to the patch. However, on day 6, a second iron infusion was required that raised dissolved iron by around 0.6 nmol L-1.

Related files

SERIES Report

SERIES El Puma Cruise Report

SERIES Tully Cruise Report

SERIES Stations Sampling Timeline

SERIES Project Data Report by Doug Mackie

SeaWIFS Image of the SERIES Bloom

The two main objectives of the Iron Synthesis program (SCOR Working Group proposal, 2005), are:
1. Data compilation: assembling a common open-access database of the in situ iron experiments, beginning with the first period (1993-2002; Ironex-1, Ironex-2, SOIREE, EisenEx, SEEDS-1; SOFeX, SERIES) where primary articles have already been published, to be followed by the 2004 experiments where primary articles are now in progress (EIFEX, SEEDS-2; SAGE, FeeP); similarly for the natural fertilizations S.O.JGOFS (1992), CROZEX (2004/2005) and KEOPS (2005).

2. Modeling and data synthesis of specific aspects of two or more such experiments for various topics such as physical mixing, phytoplankton productivity, overall ecosystem functioning, iron chemistry, CO2 budgeting, nutrient uptake ratios, DMS(P) processes, and combinations of these variables and processes.

SCOR Working Group proposal, 2005. "The Legacy of in situ Iron Enrichments: Data Compilation and Modeling".
http://www.scor-int.org/Working_Groups/wg131.htm

See also: SCOR Proceedings Vol. 42 Concepcion, Chile October 2006, pgs: 13-16 2.3.3 Working Group on The Legacy of in situ Iron Enrichments: Data Compilation and Modeling.

The first objective of the Iron Synthesis program involves a data recovery effort aimed at assembling a common, open-access database of data and metadata from a series of in-situ ocean iron fertilization experiments conducted between 1993 and 2005. Initially, funding for this effort is being provided by the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) and the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF).

Through the combined efforts of the principal investigators of the individual projects and the staff of Biological and Chemical Oceanography Data Management Office (BCO-DMO), data currently available primarily through individuals, disparate reports and data agencies, and in multiple formats, are being collected and prepared for addition to the BCO-DMO database from which they will be freely available to the community.

As data are contributed to the BCO-DMO office, they are organized into four overlapping categories:
1. Level 1, basic metadata
(e.g., description of project/study, general location, PI(s), participants);
2. Level 2, detailed metadata and basic shipboard data and routine ship's operations
(e.g., CTDs, underway measurements, sampling event logs);
3. Level 3, detailed metadata and data from specialized observations
(e.g., discrete observations, experimental results, rate measurements) and
4. Level 4, remaining datasets
(e.g., highest level of detailed data available from each study).

Collaboration with BCO-DMO staff began in March of 2008 and initial efforts have been directed toward basic project descriptions, levels 1 and 2 metadata and basic data, with detailed and more detailed data files being incorporated as they become available and are processed.

Related file

Program Documentation

The Iron Synthesis Program is funded jointly by the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) and the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF).