Chemical Oceanography

Chemical oceanography investigates the distributions, transformations and interactions of chemical species in the ocean and their exchanges across the interfaces with the atmosphere and the geosphere. This includes major elements (e.g., C, N, O, P, S) and trace elements (e.g., Fe, Zn, Cd, Mn), isotopes, radiatively and chemically active trace gases (e.g., CO2, CH4, N2O, DMS, CHBr3), inorganic and organic compounds in the dissolved, colloidal and particulate phase, and organometallic complexes. Chemical oceanographers are interested how chemical properties are shaped by biological and geological processes and how they, in turn, shape life and the geosystem in the ocean. We place special emphasis on how the marine chemical environment alters and is altered by global change and how this will affect the Earth system.

Research Areas

Senior Scientists

Long Term Observatories