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50 Years of Ocean Discovery National Science Foundation 1950-2000 (2000) / Chapter Skim
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The Future of Ocean Chemistry in the United States
Pages 169-171

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From page 169...
... The FOCUS report assesses this headway in detail. Progress Reports, written by experts in the various fields of ocean chemistry, highlight these significant research accomplishments in ten areas: biogeochemical cycles, oceanic sources and sinks, gases, ocean paleochemistry, physical chemistry of seawater, sedimentary processes, organic matter, anthropogenic effects on the oceans, chemical tracers of ocean ventilation, and chemical analyses and approaches.
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From page 170...
... Margins influence biogeochemical cycles to an extent much more than their areal extent might imply, while being especially susceptible to anthropogenic influence. Processes that occur disproportionately in margin environments, such as organic matter burial, mineral formation, and denitrification affect the oceanic balances of many elements.
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From page 171...
... Synthesizing these eight topics, three major areas appear especially fertile for future discovery. The first is boundary interactions between major reservoirs, including gas exchange between air and sea and advective flows through ridge systems and coastal aquifers, which promise resolution of important mass balances for the surface of the Earth The second area where we are on the verge of making sizable discoveries is the ocean's ability to support life, its effect on the cycling of elements in the upper ocean, and the forms of organic matter that fuel various life forms.
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Key Terms

  • organic matter
  • mineral formation
  • chemical processes
  • millennial time
  • progress reports

  • water column
  • ocean circulation
  • coastal aquifers
  • research accomplishments
  • biogeochemical cycles

  • processes affected
  • hydrothermal processes
  • anthropogenic changes
  • geological phenomena
  • community completed

  • approach required
  • upper ocean
  • global scales
  • cindy lee
  • recent progress

  • ocean chemists
  • fundamental properties
  • examination entitled
  • upper water
  • previously appreciated

  • chemical tracers
  • oceanic balances
  • hole oceanographic
  • vastly wider
  • processes play


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