The role of the Southern Ocean in the global biogeochemical cycling of cadmium and zinc and their isotopes ...

• Main Author: Sieber, Matthias
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: ETH Zurich 2019
• Subjects: infoeu-repo/classification/ddc/550; Earth sciences; Southern Ocean
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000348367; http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/348367

Trace elements, particularly transition metals, are critical for the growth of marine organisms, acting as micronutrients that fulfil vital functions in numerous biological processes. Over the past decades, a rapidly expanding body of research has shown that their oceanic distributions play a key role in controlling primary production in the upper ocean, influence the functioning of ocean ecosystems and impact the global carbon cycle. Specifically, the onset of the global GEOTRACES program has yielded important new insights into the marine biogeochemical cycles of trace elements and their isotopes at an unprecedented scale. The motivation for this work stems from the observation that the coupling of biogeochemical processes and physical circulation in the Southern Ocean plays a central role in determining the global distribution of trace metals such as cadmium (Cd) and zinc (Zn). This dissertation investigates in detail the effects of biogeochemical and physical process in the surface Southern Ocean on the ...