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Education
College
of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA. Chemistry BS, 2001.
Scripps
Institution of Oceanography/UCSD, San Diego, CA, Oceanography
PhD Candidate, 2001- Present
Fellowships and Awards
NDSEG
Fellowship, 2002-Present
Scripps
Graduate Scholarship, 2001-2004
Phi Beta
Kappa, Fall 2000
Research
Subsurface Iron Limitation
Coming Soon
Natural Iron Fertilization
The
Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica is known to be iron
limited most likely because its so far away from any sources
of continental dust which is a major supplier of iron to the
ocean. Most of the Southern Ocean is very unproductive (not
many phytoplankton growing) but satellite images have shown
areas where there are sharp transitions to much higher
phytoplankton. This would imply there must be some source of
iron to these higher chlorophyll areas. On a recent cruise to
the Drake Passage we worked with a group led by PI Greg
Mitchell to investigate the sources of iron to the area and to
see if iron was causing the abrupt transition to high
chlorophyll. The major mechanism of iron addition seems
to be mixing of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current "Blue Water"
with high iron waters from the coastal shelf. The addition of
iron stimulates growth of phytoplankton creating "Green
Water". Point sources of iron such as islands in the ACC
and the peninsula are important for phytoplankton productivity
in the Southern Ocean.
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