New Tools, New Discoveries in Marine Geochemistry

Progress in the development of seawater sampling systems, analytical procedures and mass spectrometry have allowed measurements of trace elements and their isotopes in the ocean at spatial resolutions and at concentrations never achieved before. Marine geochemists are now exploiting these new developments to measure, for the first time, the stable isotopes of trace metals that are essential for marine life (e.g. Fe, Cu, Ni, Mo, Zn). The new data have already produced new insights into the interaction between ocean life and dissolved trace constituents and into the sources and sinks of those trace elements.