Miller, William L., Daniela Turk and C-SOLAS Project Leaders

Dalhousie University, Department of Oceanography, Halifax, NS B3H 4J1 Canada, Tel: ++(902) 494-7177, Fax: ++(902) 494-3877, E-mail: william.miller@dal.ca and Canadian SOLAS Secretariat, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, B3H 4J1

Canadian SOLAS: Two basins one challenge

This poster presents an overview and the first accomplishments of the Canadian SOLAS Network. The scientific focus of the Canadian SOLAS research effort largely reflects its integration with the International SOLAS Project and its stated objective of addressing ‘the key interactions among the marine biogeochemical system, the atmosphere and climate, and how this system affects and is affected by past and future climate and environmental changes’.

Two major expeditions in the Pacific and Atlantic will provide the data to address C-SOLAS objectives; In July, 2002 a mesoscale Fe-addition experiment was carried out in the subarctic Pacific to determine the influence of this limiting trace nutrient on biological production and resulting dynamic changes in the cycling of climatically relevant gases. In 2003, three cruises in the northwest Atlantic are planned to quantify the impact of the spring bloom on trace gasses production and exchange. The responses in the two ecosystems will be compared and the field data integrated into coupled ocean-atmosphere models.