- Laboratory for Global Marine and Atmospheric Chemistry
- School of Environmental Sciences
- University of East Anglia
- Norwich
- Norfolk
- NR4 7TJ
- UK
- +44 (0)1603 591315
Current Research Interests
I am currently based at the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of East Anglia , UK and I submitted my PhD thesis "Atmospheric inputs of iron and other key nutrients to the tropical North Atlantic" in September 2010. My work has been funded by UK-SOLAS.
Very briefly the major focus of my PhD thesis has been to use data from aerosol samples gathered in the tropical North Atlantic over the last 10 years in conjunction with air flow information generated from air mass back trajectories to create a seasonal aerosol deposition climatology for the region. There are several strands of investigation but my main research interests cover:
Quantifying the atmospheric flux of nutrients to the open ocean: atmospheric deposition is an important input of iron, phosphate and nitrogen to the open ocean, particularly to the Eastern Tropical North Atlantic (ETNA), although the overall effect on phytoplankton ecosystems is uncertain. However, it is difficult to assess the relative supply of these key nutrients because the atmospheric deposition varies in composition, over seasons and even where it is actually deposited. Aerosol sampling from island sites can provide information on the temporal variability of the deposition, but at the cost of spatial resolution. Ship based aerosol sampling can provide better spatial resolution, but the measurements taken represent 'snapshots' of the deposition at a particular point in time and space. Air flow information generated from air mass back trajectories can be used to decide how representative an individual sample is of the aerosol deposition.
Iron Biogeochemistry: Iron is only sparingly soluble in seawater, yet it is an essential micronutrient. Iron inputs to the ETNA region are dominated by Saharan dust and it is unlikely that anthropogenic sources of iron are significant. Iron solubility is probably controlled, at least in part, by particle size.
Phosphate and Nitrogen deposition: The concentration of phosphate in aerosol gathered in the ETNA region contains a strong component from both mineral dust and African biomass burning, and reactive nitrogen also contains a strong biomass burning signal, in addition to many other, mainly anthropogenic sources. However, the effect of these aerosol inputs of nutrients should be considered in the light of likely phytoplankton nutrient demand, i.e. whether the input of fixed nitrogen is greater than that of phosphate relative to phytoplankton requirements.
Previous Research
I have a multidisciplinary background and have been involved in a wide range of research projects in the past:
Physical oceanography: I was involved in the 36N project, which aims to understand the heat flux and nutrient budget across the North Atlantic Subtropical gyre, and the rapid project, which aims to monitor changes in the flow of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (MOC).
Physical chemistry: I have also been involved in the development stages of a gas phase system for the analysis of gasses by 2D-IR spectroscopy.