Core Pigment Protocol and QA/QC Procedures for the U.S. JGOFS EQPAC Program

Robert R. Bidigare

Water samples will be collected in duplicate and analyzed at sea for pigments (chlorophylls, carotenoids and phaeopigments) by reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC; Bidigare et al., 1989). Procedures will conform to the recommendations described in

  1. Chapter 9 of the JGOFS Core Measurement Protocols document; and
  2. The Analysis and Characterization of Marine Particles document (FRECLES Workshop, 20--26 January, 1991, Honolulu, HI).
The HPLC method employed includes the use of an internal standard, canthaxanthin, which corrects for errors caused by variable extraction volumes and `partial' HPLC injections. Replicate samples will be collected during each cruise for the purposes of
  1. assessing analytical precision;
  2. establishing minimum detection limits (MDL); and
  3. intercalibrating with other JGOFS investigators performing pigment determinations (i.e., HOTS, BATS).
Since we coordinated and participated in the North Atlantic Bloom Experiment (NABE) pigment intercalibration exercises, we are currently intercalibrated with existing JGOFS pigment laboratories (HOTS [D. Karl], NABE [D.J. Repeta] and the international participants [H. Maske, T. Platt, W. W. C. Gieskes, etc.]). In addition, I recently installed and calibrated an HPLC system at the Bermuda Biological Station (BATS) and will take over the analysis of pigments collected at the HOTS site. Thus, samples collected for the U.S. JGOFS HOTS, BATS and EQPAC programs will all be analyzed and calibrated using the same methods and standards, respectively.

Literature Cited

Bidigare, R.R., O. Schofield and B.B. Prezelin (1989).
Influence of zeaxanthin on quantum yield of photosynthesis of Synechococcus clone WH7803 (DC2). Marine Ecology: Progress Series, Ser. 56: 177--188.