Target group: Graduate students and undergraduate, upper level students
Prerequisite: Introduction to oceanography, one year of chemistry
Includes marine chemistry methods employing electrochemistry, spectroscopy and chromatography. These techniques can be used for organic and inorganic analysis. Contains a lab section. Class taught fall of uneven years. Tentative days are Tuesday and Thursday. Lectures are 1 hr 15 mins and laboratories are 3 hrs 45 mins.
The class has three parts:
- Lectures on analytical methods and theory
- Lab section: sampling and sample work-up
- Final report: data evaluation and discussion of results.
Lectures
- Analytical basics (separation versus detection, precision, “accuracy”, common sense, trace analysis (metal and organic), contamination, blanks, protocols, note keeping, sampling)
- Analytical statistics (standard curves, SD, error propagation, t-test, r, r2, ?, sample planning)
- Overview spectrometric theory (atomic absorption, UV, IR, fluorescence, colorimetry,
- Spectrophotometric methods in marine chemistry: AA for metals, UV for silica and nitrate, IR detection, pH detection)
- Overview electrodes (function, G, examples of uses in marine chemistry: pH electrodes, microelectrodes; oxygen electrodes)
- Overview chromatographic theory – LC and GC
- Overview detection methods in marine chromatography
- Shipboard equipment: CTD, reversible thermometers, salinity determinations, rosette sampler, attachable sensors.
- Introduction to the basis of marine science – asking questions, field work and working from a boat.
- Sampling should take place from a boat on a full one day cruise. The students determine sampling locations and replication as part of a class. Hypothesis to be tested are formulated.
Laboratories
Boat excursion: Samples are collected for the laboratory part of the course.
Shipboard determinations:
- Salinity and temperature with CTD and manually.
- Calibration and functions of a CTD with rosette sampler.
- Preserve samples for oxygen determinations
Determinations on land:
- pH -measurement – calibration – fresh water versus salt water measurements and inherent problems, measurement with electrodes and spectrophotometrically
- Oxygen determinations
- TOC
- Nutrients
- Chromatographic determination