Principal Investigator Edward Boyle
Iron is extremely insoluble in the ocean and its concentration is so low in parts of the ocean (the "high nutrient low chlorophyll" regions) that it is insufficient to support the growth of marine phytoplankton. Iron is also particularly essential to organisms that fix nitrogen using the nitrogenase enzyme. Yet despite this important role in regulating ocean biogeochemistry, there is very little data on iron in the ocean because of the extreme difficulties associated with clean sample collection on rusty ships and its analysis at low concentration levels. Boyle’s Trace Metal Group has developed small-volume (1.3 ml) methods for the analysis of iron in seawater using collision-cell plasma mass spectrometry. In addition, they have developed methods for the distinction of colloidal (0.02-0.4 µm) iron from truly soluble iron (<0.02 µm). Part of a five-year NSF-funded "Biocomplexity" program, Boyle’s group works with marine biologists and atmospheric dust scientists sets out to unravel the relationship between dust, iron in the ocean, and nitrogen fixation.