This three-year Project Grant from the National Science Foundation Division of Ocean Sciences provides $486,795 to support collaborative research on thorium-230, thorium-232 and protactinium-231 tracers of trace element supply and removal. The research will be conducted through the NSF's Geosciences Program, which supports basic research in the atmospheric, earth, and ocean sciences to strengthen understanding of the integrated Earth system.
Specifically, researchers at the University of Minnesota will work with the NSF's Geotraces programs to study these radioactive isotopes as tracers of biogeochemical cycles in the oceans. By measuring the distribution and concentration of thorium-230, thorium-232 and protactinium-231 in seawater samples from the US GEOTRACES Pacific and Atlantic expeditions, the team seeks to gain new insights into trace element supply and removal in the oceans. Their findings will enhance knowledge of ocean chemistry processes and element cycling critical to Earth system science.
Generated 1/6/24, 4:08 PM