Marine Chemistry
Chemical oceanographers seek to understand the ways in which various elements are cycled within the oceans, and the reactions that these elements undergo. Ocean chemists improve our understanding of the basic conditions under which ocean life thrives in seawater, and help predict the effects of anthropogenic and natural climate change on ocean composition.
Research activities in the Chemical Oceanography Research Group (CORG) are focused on exploring the broad spectrum of processes that influence chemical cycling and biogeochemical dynamics of marine water and sediments within Qatar's Exclusive Economic Zone. Critical to these efforts are considerations of how ocean chemistry influences and responds to biological activity and the impact of anthropogenic activity on the marine environment. We are a diverse group of researchers working at the interface of multiple disciplines using a combination of laboratory and field-based approaches. Our research projects range in size from single investigator studies to large collaborative projects involving investigators from multiple institutions and nations. Areas of advanced study and research include:
- The inorganic and organic chemistry of seawater
- Ocean circulation and mixing based on chemical and isotopic tracers
- Marine organic and natural products chemistry
- Geochemical interactions of sediments with seawater and interstitial waters
- Geochemistry of suspended particles
- Geochemical cycles of carbon, oxygen, sulfur, nitrogen, and other elements
- Isotopic geochemistry of sediments
- Paleoatmospheric composition of metals recorded in corals and sediment cores
- Chemistry of hypoxic systems
In particular, current research interests are concentrated on: chemical oceanography, paleoceanography, aquatic chemistry, nutrient chemistry, sediment geochemistry, hypoxia, organic contaminants, micro-plastics, heavy metals, minor and trace element biogeochemistry, detection and speciation of trace metals, micronutrients, and their isotopes at ultra-trace levels, biogenic matter, elemental composition of plankton, bioaccumulation, toxicology, trophic transfer. Studies are typically interdisciplinary and involve integration of chemical concepts with information about the physical, biological, or geological processes that influence natural systems.
